April, 19th 2016
Before you comment on this deck: I know the deck has no removals. This is totally on purpose, and the result of careful deck building (I'm no newbie). I believe this deck is very competitive and can break the current meta, if piloted correctly.
Why is this deck so good?
Aggressivity - A God's Hand can deal 15 damage by turn 3. Without it, the deck can deal 20-23 damage by turn 4, thanks to Reckless Bushwhacker (see below, Strategies).
Menace - Already overwhelmed (no deck plays more creatures than this one), your opponent gets his number of blockers halved, rounded down. By turn 4, depending if you're on the draw or the play, only one of your four hasted Allies can be blocked.
Allies and Card Advantage - Each and every card in this deck pumps the previous ones. Then, add
Munda, Ambush Leader
(now that the Fetch Lands are gone). He grants effective and lingering card advantage the moment he's played, even if he dies right away. If not, he's going to make certain your deck doesn't run out of gas for the next 3-4 turns. No other deck in the current meta does that.
Lifedrain - This deck cheats, hard. Thanks to Kalastria Healer, Zulaport Cutthroat and Drana's Emissary, you break the rules and play with 25 life, your opponent with 15.
Reliable Mana Base - No lands ETB tapped. This is not for budget consideration, but a commitment to the aggressive strategy. Thanks to
Ally Encampment
, the odds of having the required mana at the right time are very high (WBR at 14-14-10, out of 22 lands).
Strategies
How to deal 23 damage by turn 4?
T1 :
Expedition Envoy
.
T2 : Kalastria Healer, trigger Healer, attack for 2 (total 3 dmg).
T3 : Firemantle Mage, trigger Healer, attack for 3 with menace (total 7 dmg).
T4 : Weapon Trainer, then surge Reckless Bushwhacker, trigger Healer twice and attack for 17 with menace on 5 creatures (total 23 dmg). GG
You'll have gained 4 life at that point too. Even if one of your creature gets blocked (it takes 2-3 blockers to do so), opponent should be in a pretty terrible situation, if not dead.
Note that
Kor Bladewhirl
can replace Kalastria Healer on turn 2, and that's still 20 damage with menace and first strike by turn 4. GG
How to screw opponent in 3 turns?
A God's Hand will do that, with Envoy, Healer, then Envoy again + Bushwhacker. Life gained: 3. Damage: 15, if not blocked. You'll rarely do that, but when you do, at 23 vs 5 life, chances are opponent will scoop up right there. GG
How to win against Languish,
Radiant Flames
or
Kozilek's Return
, or even Declaration in Stone?
Wraths usually don't see much play in the main deck. And Control / Midrange decks will run out of removals before you run out creatures. Play aggressively until turn 4, then slow down a bit to keep mana open for
Ally Encampment
's ability. Bouncing your key Ally in your hand will ensure you get another ETB trigger (this totally screws Declaration in Stone, BTW). You should beat the clock and win the first game.
Wraths see more play after sideboard. If you're lucky, you'll draw Eerie Interlude to save the day and win the game. Otherwise, slow down your play and grind with finesse...
Your opponent will want to put value in Languish, hoping to wipe 3+ creatures. Don't give him that chance, and stall at 2 creatures. He'll delay his strategy, hoping you'll make a mistake. Use that extra turn or two to deal as much damage as you can. Eventually, he's going to feel the clock, and will burn his precious spell on a thin board (with your hand full). This is when you smile and surge Reckless Bushwhacker on any other Ally and win (or just
Munda, Ambush Leader
/
Chasm Guide
to continue with the pressure).
If you can add Zulaport Cutthroat (aka The Punisher) to the equation before the Wrath effect, do so. But don't add a 4th creature unless this puts him to 4 life or less (wiping the board will kill him anyway). And if by chance you can add a 2nd Punisher on the board, then it's probably safe to go all-in with what you have. GG
Any other tricks in this deck?
Other than the high damage tricks explained above, here are some special plays you should be aware of if you want to get the most out of the deck:
Ally Encampment
+ Reckless Bushwhacker - If at the end of opponent's turn you have 2 mana open, Bushwhacker on the board and another Ally in your hand (or top deck, thanks to Munda), do some math. You could bounce Bushwhacker in your hand (sac Ally Encampment), only to surge him next turn with another Ally. GG
(More tricks and strategies to come...)
Cards, in details :
Expedition Envoy
- The only one drop in the deck, and quite precious for that reason. If you have it in your starting hand, you should almost always play it right away. But if you're on the play, and also have Reckless Bushwhacker and a solid turn 2 (all except Cutthroat), then you should consider saving the Envoy for turn 3 to surge the Bushwhacker. But don't do this on the draw post Sideboard against Midrange or Control. You'll see Languish, and regrets are hard to swallow.
Weapon Trainer - This, and no Equipment? But he's a must : a 3/2 for 2, and he's an Ally to trigger all others. He's better than
Kor Castigator
and less mana hungry than
Serene Steward
. No need to add bad cards (Equipments) to the deck for him to do his job.
Munda, Ambush Leader
- He is great (now that Fetch are gone from Standard), and you want to have 4. Use his ability to put the next Munda at the bottom of your deck (just don't reveal the card), or deep on top. At worst, you can play a second Munda to trigger all your Allies (including Munda's Scry 4 TWICE), and sac any of the two (he has haste anyway). Munda gives you "Protection from Mana Flood" and "On your draw step, draw the best Ally out of 4 cards". Even if he dies fast, his effect will linger for a few turns on the top deck! That's better than Read the Bones or Painful Thruth. Instead of losing a turn and a card to trade Life for cards, you get a 3/4 haste that gives you card advantage and triggers all your squad.
Zulaport Cutthroat - aka The Punisher. Cutthroat punishes. Removals, wraths, blocking, attacking. This translates often enough with you winning the game as there are no way for the opponent to attack, block or interact with the board and still survive (remember that this deck's aggressivity will push opponent's life south of 10, even 5, by turn 4). Having two Cutthroat on the battlefield at the same time usually means you can go all-in with the attack and win.
(More to come...)
Other details:
I've run a few tribal decks before (Werewolves, Slivers). It took some time, but in the end, I brewed the decks long enough to make them solid tier 1 in my gaming community (FNM and local tournaments, 10-30 players). When I wasn't top 1, constantly top 3.
So, after Oath of the Gatewatch, I decided to take on the Allies challenge. I've tried them with Equipments, less Equipments, some removals, more removals, Boros, Mardu, Orzhov, focused on life drain...
So far, all these versions of the deck disappointed me. I want to make Allies competitive in Standard. This is my latest take on the tribe, and so far I'm impressed with the results!
Don't be deceived by its simple appearance. There's a lot of thoughts and strategies in this deck, and I strongly beleive it's close to be the best Allies deck Standard can provide in the current meta. Time will tell if it can break through Bant CoCo, WU Humans and WB Eldrazi / Midrange. But I beleive my win percentage against these decks can be above 50%...
