This is an Ally themed deck with Sliver Hivelord as its commander. It's mostly for casual play and is very fun to run in multiplayer as with most decks that focuses on the theme.
Now if Sliver Hivelord is the Commander, why not make a sliver themed deck instead? Well, that's because i want to make an Ally deck and i happen to have a Sliver Hivelord in my keeping.
COMMANDER:
On it's own, Sliver Hivelord does not synergize much with the Allies except that it allows the use of five colors in the deck; but there are ways to make the Hivelord and the Allies work together.
ALLIES
There are 30 Allies but i only included 20 in the game - Allies grow stronger as more of them join in on the battle; and these are the ones which i think have the most useful abilities that will benefit the army as a whole.
COMRADES:
There are also non-ally creatures in this deck other than Sliver Hivelord; and most of them - as the name implies - help out the team in their own way.
SYNERGY
The answer to the lack of synergy is to have the allies become slivers. It can also work the other way around, where the Sliver Hivelord becomes an Ally.
FRIENDS
And because these deck has the whole 'team' theme to it, i added four planeswalkers in the mix with emblems that help out the team.
MANA
Of course the biggest challenge in this deck is that it runs on five colors. Aside from including Command Tower, Chromatic Lantern and other similar cards to the land pool, i've also included guildgates and panoramas in the mix.
Gemhide and Manaweft Sliver synergizes well with Hivestone as this also allows the other creatures to produce mana. Harabaz Druid makes more mana as more allies join the fight.
SEARCHERS
Key cards need to get the battlefield as quickly as possible or whenever needed. Yisan, the Wanderer Bard is a great creature searcher and summoner - when he gets 2 verse counters, the top priority to summon would be one of the two mana slivers - Gemhide Sliver or Manaweft Sliver; 5 verse counters and Prophet of Kruphix would be the one to come in, by that time creatures and lands untap every turn; verse counter 7 Garruk's Horde may be summoned, if ever we need to summon creatures on the double; verse counter 8 Archetype of Endurance comes out, and if Sliver Hiverlord is in play then we have an indestructible/hexproof commander. the last that Yisan could summon would be Blightsteel Colossus and pretty much by that time the army would win most combat battles.
Ring of Three Wishes and Fabricate can handle searching for non-creature cards, especially Hivestone or Yisan himself. Both Yisan and the ring can of course get allies that are badly needed on the field. searching for land - the right land at the time - is also important; and with that cards like Expedition Map, Journeyer's Kite and Maze's End are included.
DRAW
There are a couple of draw engines in this deck like Sea Gate Loremaster which gets better as your allies grow in number, and Temple Bell which is both good with draws and bargaining with other players.
ARTIFACTS
Artifacts in this deck provide more of a support for the allies and other cards in the deck. Examples are Amulet of Vigor because of the number of lands entering the battlefield tapped; Door of Destinies to boost the power of the allies or slivers depending on the situation; and Mimic Vat for copying the allies and triggering their effects.
ENCHANTMENT Possibility Storm adds more fun and excitement and more playtime in the game. It is quite advantageous for an ally deck where casting a creature, being taken by possibility storm and the replacement creature would also be an ally.
ALTERNATIVE WIN CONDITIONS
This deck has 3 concrete alternative win conditions. Maze's End, Door to Nothingness, and Hellkite Tyrant. The Maze's End win will rely on the early completion of all the ten guildgates in the deck. Door to Nothingness win can be surprisingly fast - If the Manaweft Sliver, Hivestone, and Chromatic Lantern cards are in play. Hellkite Tyrant win is more of a luck win, if ever the opponent is using an artifact deck. Halimar Excavator can probably mill the opponent to death, Hagra Diabolist can get a win by life-loss; and of course there is Blightsteel Colossus to watch out for.
Now if Sliver Hivelord is the Commander, why not make a sliver themed deck instead? Well, that's because i want to make an Ally deck and i happen to have a Sliver Hivelord in my keeping.
COMMANDER:
On it's own, Sliver Hivelord does not synergize much with the Allies except that it allows the use of five colors in the deck; but there are ways to make the Hivelord and the Allies work together.
ALLIES
There are 30 Allies but i only included 20 in the game - Allies grow stronger as more of them join in on the battle; and these are the ones which i think have the most useful abilities that will benefit the army as a whole.
COMRADES:
There are also non-ally creatures in this deck other than Sliver Hivelord; and most of them - as the name implies - help out the team in their own way.
SYNERGY
The answer to the lack of synergy is to have the allies become slivers. It can also work the other way around, where the Sliver Hivelord becomes an Ally.
FRIENDS
And because these deck has the whole 'team' theme to it, i added four planeswalkers in the mix with emblems that help out the team.
MANA
Of course the biggest challenge in this deck is that it runs on five colors. Aside from including Command Tower, Chromatic Lantern and other similar cards to the land pool, i've also included guildgates and panoramas in the mix.
Gemhide and Manaweft Sliver synergizes well with Hivestone as this also allows the other creatures to produce mana. Harabaz Druid makes more mana as more allies join the fight.
SEARCHERS
Key cards need to get the battlefield as quickly as possible or whenever needed. Yisan, the Wanderer Bard is a great creature searcher and summoner - when he gets 2 verse counters, the top priority to summon would be one of the two mana slivers - Gemhide Sliver or Manaweft Sliver; 5 verse counters and Prophet of Kruphix would be the one to come in, by that time creatures and lands untap every turn; verse counter 7 Garruk's Horde may be summoned, if ever we need to summon creatures on the double; verse counter 8 Archetype of Endurance comes out, and if Sliver Hiverlord is in play then we have an indestructible/hexproof commander. the last that Yisan could summon would be Blightsteel Colossus and pretty much by that time the army would win most combat battles.
Ring of Three Wishes and Fabricate can handle searching for non-creature cards, especially Hivestone or Yisan himself. Both Yisan and the ring can of course get allies that are badly needed on the field. searching for land - the right land at the time - is also important; and with that cards like Expedition Map, Journeyer's Kite and Maze's End are included.
DRAW
There are a couple of draw engines in this deck like Sea Gate Loremaster which gets better as your allies grow in number, and Temple Bell which is both good with draws and bargaining with other players.
ARTIFACTS
Artifacts in this deck provide more of a support for the allies and other cards in the deck. Examples are Amulet of Vigor because of the number of lands entering the battlefield tapped; Door of Destinies to boost the power of the allies or slivers depending on the situation; and Mimic Vat for copying the allies and triggering their effects.
ENCHANTMENT
Possibility Storm adds more fun and excitement and more playtime in the game. It is quite advantageous for an ally deck where casting a creature, being taken by possibility storm and the replacement creature would also be an ally.
ALTERNATIVE WIN CONDITIONS
This deck has 3 concrete alternative win conditions. Maze's End, Door to Nothingness, and Hellkite Tyrant. The Maze's End win will rely on the early completion of all the ten guildgates in the deck. Door to Nothingness win can be surprisingly fast - If the Manaweft Sliver, Hivestone, and Chromatic Lantern cards are in play. Hellkite Tyrant win is more of a luck win, if ever the opponent is using an artifact deck. Halimar Excavator can probably mill the opponent to death, Hagra Diabolist can get a win by life-loss; and of course there is Blightsteel Colossus to watch out for.
And now for the deck list:
1x Sliver Hivelord
ALLIES
1x Graypelt Hunter
1x Hagra Diabolist
1x Halimar Excavator
1x Harabaz Druid
1x Highland Berserker
1x Joraga Bard
1x Kabira Evangel
1x Kazandu Blademaster
1x Kazuul Warlord
1x Murasa Pyromancer
1x Ondu Cleric
1x Oran-Rief Survivalist
1x Sea Gate Loremaster
1x Seascape Aerialist
1x Talus Paladin
1x Tuktuk Grunts
1x Tuktuk Scrapper
1x Turntimber Ranger
1x Umara Raptor
OTHER CREATURES
1x Archetype of Endurance
1x Blightsteel Colossus
1x Elderscale Wurm
1x Gemhide Sliver
1x Garruk's Horde
1x Hellkite Tyrant
1x Manaweft Sliver
1x Prophet of Kruphix
1x Yisan, the Wanderer Bard
1x Ajani Steadfast
1x Domri Rade
1x Garruk, Caller of Beasts
1x Kiora, the Crashing Wave
ENCHANTMENTS
1x Ensoul Artifact
1x Possibility Storm
1x Xenograft
ARTIFACTS
1x Amulet of Vigor
1x Chromatic Lantern
1x Coat of Arms
1x Door of Destinies
1x Door to Nothingness
1x Expedition Map
1x Gate to the AEther
1x Hivestone
1x Journeyer's Kite
1x Mimic Vat
1x Power Conduit
1x Ring of Three Wishes
1x Shell of the Last Kappa
1x Temple Bell
1x Throne of Geth
INSTANTS AND SORCERIES
1x Ætherspouts
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Diabolic Tutor
1x Duneblast
1x Fabricate
1x Phyrexian Rebirth
1x Planar Cleansing
1x Supreme Verdict
1x Wrath of God
1x Azorius Guildgate
1x Boros Guildgate
1x Dimir Guildgate
1x Golgari Guildgate
1x Gruul Guildgate
1x Izzet Guildgate
1x Orzhov Guildgate
1x Rakdos Guildgate
1x Selesnya Guildgate
1x Simic Guildgate
1x Maze's End
OTHER LANDS
6x Forest
4x Island
2x Mountain
3x Plains
1x Academy Ruins
1x Command Tower
1x Rupture Spire
1x Bant Panorama
1x Esper Panorama
1x Grixis Panorama
1x Jund Panorama
1x Naya Panorama
1x Frontier Bivouac
1x Mystic Monastery
1x Nomad Outpost
1x Opulent Palace
1x Sandsteppe Citadel
Playtest it here.