Modern Allies - Primer (Updated for BfZ!)
Modern
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Big couple days for ally fans —March 7, 2015
If any of you are as obsessed with allies as I am, then you know that its been an exciting couple of days in the magic world. There have been a few Dragons of Tarkir releases that look promising, Battle for Zendikar was announced for October which is our best chance at seeing new allies, and Collected Company.
First was Outai's command, which rustled my jimmies considerably.
This card is a huge boost to UW midrange allies. Remember how I always say how important it is to be able to play allies at instant speed? This card does it incredibly well, and gives us a bonus effect to boot. Unlike blink cards, this one is useful without board position, which is huge. At 4 mana its a bit heavy, but I think its good enough to run 2-3 in any UW ally deck.
Then Collected company was revealed today. Lets just say I went nuts. I had to reread the effect 8 times before I was convinced it was real.
HOLY COW. This card is gold in ANY creature based deck, but in allies? Its absolutely broken. Let me break this down in simple terms: 4 mana for 2 allies AT INSTANT SPEED. Not only that, but it doesn't need board position, or any cards in hand to be useful. If anyone's worried that they won't hit creatures enough, In my deck, lead the stampede hits less than 2 creatures about 5% of the time. This spell looks at an additional card, and puts them onto the battlefield. At instant speed. I strongly reccomend 3-4 of this card in any green ally deck. I'm going to buy a playset as soon as possible.
Discuss! Please let me know what you think about these cards, and if you think any other revealed cards are going to be good for allies.
I personally dislike Venser in ally decks. I've tried him in mine, but my build is very aggro. The con with Venser is that the exiled permanent comes back at the end of the turn. It's nice for some combos, but bad for the +1/+1 counters mechanic must allies have.
February 18, 2015 12:01 a.m.
If you look under the deck examples, I use Venser in my UW defensive tempo deck. The idea there is you play allies slowly to pressure your opponent over time. Venser is used to blink allies like Halimar excavator, who doesn't get +1/+1 counters. That method however is particularly difficult to play, and would need a lot of refinement and playtesting. I do think it could work though.
February 18, 2015 7:02 a.m.
crystalisdraco says... #4
Hello! I've built a rather fun Ally deck. It is a bant aggro deck, and the protection + lifelink allies are amazing in the game. I also suggest using Call to the Kindred or Descendants' Path for extra allies. I put Momentary Blink into my deck for later in the game so that I could flicker my allies for either extra triggers or to save them. Consider using flicker effects for your build!
Here's the list:
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/the-alliance-of-bant/
February 18, 2015 7:56 a.m.
Thanks for your comments crystalisdraco! I like your build, its very similar to what my allies deck used to be, and looks very fun. Call to the Kindred and Descendants' Path and both good, I prefer Descendants' Path just because Call to the Kindred makes that ally a huge target, and its hard to protect him properly.
February 18, 2015 9:14 a.m.
crystalisdraco says... #6
Consider Doubling Chant as well for a big finisher, and Harabaz Druid can create the mana for it!
February 18, 2015 11:09 a.m.
You can run a mill deck in U/W so that it also has sustain and can beat down. Here's a deck I created a while back (just updated the land due to the fetch reprints) U/W Allies 2. It's just another way of doing mill with allies instead of going green. The Dream Twists are mainly just filler mill cards that are cheap (this deck is designed to try to mill fast, but can survive if that doesn't happen).
February 18, 2015 3:08 p.m.
Hey dude, we should talk, I haven't read over your whole primer yet but I think your on the right path with making a primer. I'm hoping to get my all-in-allies deck published soon, Its already gone 4-0 online and 3-1 but didn't get put online. (they only pick one modern daily to publish per day) Your welcome to check my build out on my profile.
Cheers!-Aubrey
February 18, 2015 5:54 p.m.
I just read through the primer, and, I think I have created a tier 1 compatible ally deck. Your welcome to use it, but please give me credit. Let me know what you think!
5 colors is hard to run, but not impossible, especially with aether vial and cavers. not to mention the pingme lands. We should talk some time.-Aubrey
February 18, 2015 5:56 p.m.
brokensaint058 feel free to find me one, I'll change the title and give credit. I looked around though. No need to be snarky without anything to back yourself up.
February 18, 2015 7:12 p.m.
micah1 this is true, but I haven't seen one that did anything very differently than GW or RW. If you can find me a list that does something new, I'd be happy to put it in.
February 18, 2015 7:28 p.m.
oh dang, the problems of typing, lol, i didn't mean to come across as snarky at all. I'm excited/proud? of the deck and just sad it hasn't taken hold yet. My bad for coming across that way. I have gone 4-0 in the daily and 3-1 but alas it didn't get posted on mtgo top 8. I'm playing in a tournament now where allies just curb stomped boggles by out powering it and racing it! Gooooo Alllies! anywho, once again, sorry for the missunderstanding. lookin forward to further communication!-Aubrey
February 19, 2015 2:30 p.m.
aubman02 I wasn't actually referring to you with that comment haha, it was the one before yours, about this not being the first modern ally primer. Your comment was fine, I actually love that someone else is getting solid competitive results with them! I'd love to talk more about how it goes with your deck.
February 19, 2015 2:47 p.m.
well, just lost to living end, cant do much about that. But yeah, maybe there is some way we can chat more. Feel free to ask me any questions.
The brigands are there for redundancy more than anything. 2 drop 2-2 counter, ally, and with so little of those, you cant be choosy.
February 19, 2015 3:11 p.m.
Yesterday I had a casual match against living end. The deck performed very well. I run 3 Condescend to scry for Descendants' Path so I was able yo counter it. BUT if I didn't had it, my graveyard was kind of filled with some creatures by Commune with the Gods. I just didn't keep nothing in my hand, in order to get the most quantity of creatures in there. Then if Living End resolves I can get five or six guys and trigger them all
February 19, 2015 3:51 p.m.
True, I wonder if a Legion Loyalist would help more though, or maybe a Bramblewood Paragon for more consistent trample. I personally like to look outside of allies for my decks if I can.
February 19, 2015 3:55 p.m.
I didn't even think about that interaction simbioide. In that vein, if you're running Halimar Excavator you could simply mill yourself a little bit to start, then get all your triggers when they cast living end. But that definitely adds even more value to Commune with the Gods and Tracker's Instincts.
February 19, 2015 3:59 p.m.
Nice primer!
Any opinion on my B/W allies? Focus is on maintaining creatures to use Ondu Cleric and Hagra Diabolist, so there's a bit of reanimator in there too.
February 20, 2015 9:46 a.m.
i like the paragon idea and also using the mill person too to help with living end. even combos a little with return to the ranks. I'll check your deck out too.
J, you gonna post my deck on your primer? I'd really appreciate it, I'm trying to publicize the deck and your getting a lot of hits on this. It would be a Godsent. ..... http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/all-in-allies/ thx anyway whether you do or dont. -aubman
February 20, 2015 2:08 p.m.
Yeah aubman I've been meaning to get around to it. I haven't had time to update the page, but I'm doing it now.
February 20, 2015 3:02 p.m.
Undead_Dragon says... #24
I have an ally deck with Ondu Cleric and Hagra Diabolist. One of my win conditions is Ghostway. when each ally that gets exiled returns, the Diabolist and Cleric trigger for each one. So if I have 3 other allies, I get 5 triggers for Ondu and 5 for the Diabolist - gaining 25 life from Ondu and sucking out 25 for the diabolist. I also run a Felidar Sovereign since my life gets pretty high, especially with Talus Paladin. At multiplayer, when this deck comes up, I am the target. Even so, it still wins quite a bit.
February 20, 2015 7:23 p.m.
Thx J! dont forget to list it as all in allies or 5 color allies or aggro instead of quasi control. I think you accidentally did that. thx again dude-Aubrey
mdunham says... #1
what do you think of Venser, the Sojourner in a blue/white ally deck?
February 17, 2015 11:45 p.m.