This is a serious attempt at a competitive Modern Ally deck. The idea is simple, the balance is complicated. Draw allies, play them, abuse enter the battlefield triggers. Unlike traditional aggro ally decks (which I think lose to merfolk, goblins, and humans) this deck seeks to be midrange, using mill as its primary win condition. This deck also ends up being much more flexible than aggro setups.
The Allies
SHOW HIDE
Halimar Excavator
This is the ally who started this idea years ago. Due to the explosive nature of allies, Excavator can be an incredible mill tool, and will typically win games by himself. "If that's the case", you may ask, "why not include other mill staples like Glimpse the Unthinkable?" Because this acts as a multiple threat deck. Nearly every ally in here can threaten to win the game on their own. I've milled for over 400 with just
Halimar Excavator
, there's no need for staple mill cards when more allies increase the power of the deck more efficiently.
Ondu Cleric
The same ability as
Halimar Excavator
, except with us gaining life. Downside of the Cleric is the 1 toughness, making him easy to pop. Despite that, in most modern games I've played, I've gained around 50-70 life with this creature, postponing the game long enough to renew board position.
Harabaz Druid The most fantastic mana dork, Harabaz druid provides this deck with insane amounts of mana. Usually, enemies can't waste removal on these allies because they're having to deal with the swarm of other low-cost threats. Often these are producing 2-3 mana each, more often its 5-6.
Hada Freeblade Aggro, defense, Champion of the Parish for allies, Hada Freeblade serves to smooth out my ally curve, allowing me to trigger as many times as possible. Additionally, a turn 1 Freeblade will mean more mana for my Harabaz Druid on turn 3.
Kabira Evangel
Protection for all allies offers an incredible amount of utility. Thanks to instant speed creature with Prophet of Kruphix, he allows my creatures to survive spot removal or Anger of the Gods, targeted sweeps like Maelstrom Pulse, block any amount of non-trample damage, or attack with all your 1-power creatures. This card makes aggro possible while protecting your board position.
Jwari Shapeshifter The ultimate support ally, Jwari Shapeshifter becomes any ally on the board with virtually no drawbacks. This allows me to tailor my board position to whatever I need at the moment. She also makes mill much more consistent, since multiple Halimar Excavators mean exponential mill numbers.
The Support Creatures
SHOW HIDE Now that we have our ally base, we need other creatures to make up for what they lack. So many of these are creatures as opposed to instants/sorceries which have similar effects because of Lead the Stampede which I'll cover later.
Prophet of Kruphix The most recent addition, the Prophet has, in my opinion, pushed this deck significantly closer to competing with the modern meta. In a hand with Prophet of Kruphix, Harabaz Druid, and one of my one-drops, I can cast the Prophet of turn 3. That means that immediately on my opponent's turn I can cast the remaining allies in my hand. This can easily lead to a turn 4 win if left alone, and even if its killed, I get immediate gain regardless.
Birds of Paradise One of the best mana dorks, allows me to have a play on turn 1, smooth out my 3-color curve, and help get Prophet of Kruphix out sooner. This card would be replaced with Noble Hierarch if I thought the difference between them was worth $200.
Mirror Entity I often find that with Harabaz Druid, I would have more mana than I could possibly need. It doesn't happen often enough to increase the CMC of the deck by too much, but it was enough that I knew I needed a possible outlet. This changeling allows me to dodge -X/-X sweeps, attack with a board of 6/6's, or make my non-allies protected with
Kabira Evangel
.
The Kit
SHOW HIDE Tracker's Instincts allows this deck to survive. It is paramount that this deck focuses on creatures as much as possible, because with this card I can get through a significant amount of my deck with ease. It's the only way for me to stay ahead of burn and control and the flashback is just an added bonus. It also works excellently with Prophet of Kruphix since I can cast them on my turn, then cast any creatures I find on my opponent's turn.
Collected Company A card that still needs testing, Collected Company seems to be a godsend for this deck. The ability to play two allies from my deck at instant speed is almost a dream come true. Currently this card is replacing Lead the Stampede, but we will see whether it lives up to the hype.
Aether Vial provides amazing utility in this deck, particularly for
Kabira Evangel
. Additionally, instant speed creatures allows you to retain information about your hand until your opponent's end step, meaning they have to decide if they want to keep mana open to deal with possible threats. Combine this with the fact that no one plays Allies in modern, and you'll often take game 1. I'm currently experimenting between the usefulness of this card over Birds of Paradise in my new Kruphix-centered set up.
Path to Exile Interaction and spot removal, self explanatory. Run between 3 and 4.
Cards I've considered
SHOW HIDE Rite of Replication I used this card for a long time to great success. The problem is that it isn't as consistent as other options. Having a win condition that's a sorcery doesn't really fit the rest of the deck.
Kazandu Blademaster Easily the most well-rounded ally, the Blademaster was recently switched with Hada Freeblade to give the deck more turn 1 options.
Every other Ally I've gone through every ally in existence multiple times trying to find a place for them. Although I might change my mind as the deck changes, I have looked at all of them.
Sorcery win conditions Same reasoning as rite of replication, even though a sorcery may win me the game, unless it can be played with no board position, it probably removes a lot of consistency.
Craterhoof Behemoth If this deck was more aggro focused, I would absolutely consider this card. However, in this mill-centric, mid-range deck, he doesn't really fit.
Feedback
I'm always looking for feedback on this deck, I've had it for a long time but haven't attempted to make it modern viable until very recently. I'm open to suggestions from all sources, and will reply to every comment.
Also, if you have a ally deck you own, or know one that looks interesting, let me know! Alternatively you can check out my Modern Ally Primer, found here: Modern Allies - Primer (Updated for BfZ!)
