How has your guys' experience been with Knight of the White Orchid and Weathered Wayfarer? It might just be my meta, but the requirement of being under my opponent's land count rarely comes up for me early game, and isn't really what I'm looking for late game, even if they thin out the deck. I'm thinking Land Tax is the better route as if it does go off I get 3 of any basic lands, not just plains. That or Kor Cartographer might be a little more reliable, albeit expensive.
You have a lot of, what I term, "cutesy" cards in your deck. Stuff that seems fun and fulfills a role, but may be too niche for this style of deck. I would recommend cutting all of the raid and dash cards unless you want to focus on more of a sac-style deck. Other than that, cards I could see cutting, in addition to Capitacom's list would be:
Battle Brawler - Ideally you want your creatures to do more than just be a body Pontiff of Blight - A good card to cut to bring your curve down. If you like Extort, then I'd consider Blind Obedience. Ponyback Brigade - Another card that can bring your average CMC down. A pain to cast outright. It's only good as an Alesha reanimation target. There are better (and cheaper) token producing targets for Alesha. Consider Siege-gang Commander. Manic Vandal - If you keep a high basic land count, you may consider Duergar Hedge-Mage instead for more utility. Flame-kin Zealot - Seems a bit pricey for it's body and one-time effect
Now for cards I'd recommend:
Skullclamp - With decent token production, massive card draw. Phyrexian Reclamation - Good way to refill your hand, bringing back something Alesha can't reanimate, or protect some stuff if your yard is getting exiled Reconnaissance - A pet card of mine. Great for getting Alesha and her newly reanimated helper out of harm's way if need be. Also, thanks to the specific order of events, you can use the ability after damage has been dealt to untap your creatures, since they are still considered attacking creatures until combat ends, giving them pseudo-vigilance. Avalanche Riders - Personally, I frown on land destruction, but sometimes some good spot removal of troublesome lands is a good thing for everyone. Mother of Runes - Just great protection all around.
My Alesha deck has been in the works for a while now. I shy away from infinite combos, so I head towards a combination of sac/aggro, which works well in my meta (since my group kills pretty much everything that hits the board right away). Just my little take on Alesha. We all have different ideas/styles.
Just to let you know, cards like Ankle Shanker and Gleam of Battle don't work with the creatures reanimated by Alesha's ability. Those abilities check when a creature attacks, which is what Alesha does. When those creatures come into play they have not attacked, but are attacking. This is a way to get around creatures that cannot attack like Wall of Blood and have them do some interesting attacking shenanigans.
Depends on your meta, but in mine aggro is common, so I use all snow-covered mountain in my Jaya. Allows me to abuse glacial crevasses with my crucible as well as able to add in Skred, Mouth of Ronom, and Scrying Sheets. But that's a purely meta-driven decision that works out nicely.
capitacom - I might be missing something here but how does your deck keep Alesha, Who Smiles at Death alive? In order to utilize her ability and reanimate creatures, you'll need to attack with her. I don't see anything in your deck that gives her any sort of evasion or indestructibility to ensure that you can continue her shenanigans, especially in the late game.
Battle Brawler - Ideally you want your creatures to do more than just be a body
Pontiff of Blight - A good card to cut to bring your curve down. If you like Extort, then I'd consider Blind Obedience.
Ponyback Brigade - Another card that can bring your average CMC down. A pain to cast outright. It's only good as an Alesha reanimation target. There are better (and cheaper) token producing targets for Alesha. Consider Siege-gang Commander.
Manic Vandal - If you keep a high basic land count, you may consider Duergar Hedge-Mage instead for more utility.
Flame-kin Zealot - Seems a bit pricey for it's body and one-time effect
Now for cards I'd recommend:
Skullclamp - With decent token production, massive card draw.
Phyrexian Reclamation - Good way to refill your hand, bringing back something Alesha can't reanimate, or protect some stuff if your yard is getting exiled
Reconnaissance - A pet card of mine. Great for getting Alesha and her newly reanimated helper out of harm's way if need be. Also, thanks to the specific order of events, you can use the ability after damage has been dealt to untap your creatures, since they are still considered attacking creatures until combat ends, giving them pseudo-vigilance.
Avalanche Riders - Personally, I frown on land destruction, but sometimes some good spot removal of troublesome lands is a good thing for everyone.
Mother of Runes - Just great protection all around.
My Alesha deck has been in the works for a while now. I shy away from infinite combos, so I head towards a combination of sac/aggro, which works well in my meta (since my group kills pretty much everything that hits the board right away). Just my little take on Alesha. We all have different ideas/styles.
Dolmen Gate is a powerhouse card in this respect. Almost as much as Reconnaissance.
I also play Iroas, God of Victory, Darksteel Plate, Whispersilk Cloak, and Dauthi Embrace for the majority of my combat survival tech.
Dauthi Embrace is fantastic if you use cards like Master of Cruelties or Blinding Angel although it's fairly B intensive if you're light on that color.