I have consistently been disappointed by Gideon. I prefer domri or lead the stampede honestly. The ally trigger is nice, but we need evasion, alpha strike, or big card advantage. I guess at 19 lands his cost is also prohibitive in a way coco is not.
I have tried 75 different ways to grant evasion without reducing ally triggers, coco hits, or excessive mana costs. Rancor is amazing but reduces coco and more paths are usually better. Ondu champion misses on coco. I find firemantle to not be enough support to evangel
As much as I hate to say it, I don't think so. I'd love love LOVE for this tribe to be at least T2 but nothing in this set seems to be pushing it that way. Harsh Mentor seems like it'll be a nice SB but that's about it.
Has anyone tried eight and a half tails? He seems like a good option against a ton of spot removal, given we do not have access to mother of runes, but do have the next best thing
Agadeem Occultist is something I have been debating on possibly adding SB or MB. How did it work out for you overall besides taking the master of waves? Do you feel it has a spot in our MB? Or is it too janky and we should focus on beatdown?
Also how was Mark of Asylum? It's something I'm thinking of adding to SB instead of Leylines...I feel like against, burn I don't mind taking a few hits here and there because as long as we have our creatures we can race faster.
I haven't been following new decks too closely but I'm thinking of getting back to Allies. Where do people stand in the top (edit I mean vial, my bad) v coco now? Still use both or use coco the with druid and lead the stampede?
I did indeed mean vial. I guess with everyone going crazy over the top ban in legacy that was the only artifact I could think of. eddited my post to reflect that. What do you think of Geddion in the list? Seems like he'd be a bit too much for too little. For the sideboard i'd say Chameleon Colossus would be best just because it would work against DS and still effect the ally triggers for your deck.
Build a strict Ally Build with Hardened Scales and have Fun with this shenanigans
I believe that Solidarity of Heroes is just better as Bioshift, but you can play both. Put the +1/+1 counter effects Pre-Board, in the Sideboard a lot of Dodge Effects like Heroic Intervention and Blossoming Defense against Control Decks.
Must be really Funny. You get real monsters in a short time and great Combat tricks. Hope you survive the Spot Removals . And who knows, maybe we have all overlooked the next competiv Ally Build.
Champion of Lambholt --> Kabira Evangel. She give the Team the needed Evasion and Counters. Better on its own. Edit: Champion of Lambholt got the +1/+1 counters and can get a Thread on its own. Too often the Kabira Evangel doing really nothing. And she have a impact. If you Topdecked her you have a little Boardstate and she can interact all of them(!). And alone as a 1/1 there aren't no Chump Blocks possibly with 1/1 Spirits for example. And she didn't need Ally Triggers to working that is important for the Servo Combo and she goes infinite Big as long as you have Mana with the Animation Module as a example. She is much better in this special Deck
"special" MaybeCards Westvale Abbey, we go most of Time wide #dificult Manabase
Mana Dorks: Mana is essential in this Deck. 4xHarabaz Druid is not enough Veteran Warleader , say someone wide? Sigil Captain an another Synergy Card #too slow
The Rest are the "Ally All Stars"
Random Sideboard Thoughts
...to build a transform Sideboard Deck. To switch from Combo into Aggro Deck, or do it in the other Way.
P.S.: I knew it's 64 cards in this Deck. I tweak this Deck (with the Manabase) after the Full Ixalan Spoiler revealed
P.P.S.: "Animated Bant Allies" -- Hope i reANIMATED the Ally Type Decks
Happy Brewing and i will be happy if we get here a Discussion ( i will like every next posting here! ) .
Edit: little Adjustment to the Deck. By far not finished the Deck Building.
Im honestly intrigued that people are still trying to play anything other than G/W Allies or G/W AllyHumans after the printings of Metallic Mimic and Hardened Scales. 4 Counters everytime a vanilla ally enters is nothing to scoff at, turning even cards like Hada Freeblade into formidable beaters with speeds and mana efficiency potentially rivaling even Tarmogoyf. Even little guys without natural pump of their own, such as Harabaz Druid andKabira Evangel can join the fray with a solid thwack with 2+ counters Also a crossed ally/human build with the likes of Champion of the Parish, Thalia's Lieutenant, and 1 or 2 valueAbzan Falconers could be devastating. There are so many options in G/W that its often a space cram! Obviously we have access to great accelerants as well, such asCollected Company andLead The Stampede. We can flood the field quickly in multiple ways, the most attractive being eitherHarabaz Druid in combination with hand refilling(stampede) or Aether Vial, which doesnt always feel useful, but allows us to cheat in Allies to activate Kabira Evangel or add counters for a combat trick-esque tech.
I really think going into colors other than this is just an utter waste of potential, and we could have a t2 deck on our hands if we got our heads together, worked at this, and quit monkeying around in red.
Also, Pretty Sure Return To The Ranks is way better than people are evaluating it as. Its another burst of speed we can use to close out that can reliably pull in 2-3 bodies, more if youre not actually sitting on an empty board. All without the Randomness of CoCo. I think 1-2 are mainboardable, with an extra in the side for control heavy matchups.
I'm in the same Opinion with the color Red. To often the Akoum Battlesinger is just dieing in everything that did 1 Damage. And there is still so much Space Cram in all colors.
I have even consider to play Winding Constrictor with Hardened Scales. With B you can finally play one of the best Allies
( Drana, Liberator of Malakir).
But you have a point. In most of all my builds there are always and . This two colors are the strongest for the Ally Players.
Return to Ranks is my sideboard card against grindy matchups. It gives your Boardstate back after a wrath or a lot removal. And it gives you x Ally Triggers , too.
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There is something new that is great for us. Settle the Wreckage give us something against Elves, Merfolk and all other aggro strategys. We can wait and grow our Warriors if it is necessary. in the same time it's very dangerous if the Opponent play this card. In this case there is only mass blink that can help us with Eerie Interlude.
Any ideas with Unclaimed Territory for 5 color allies.
It looks like to have the same problems. We can get tall very quickly, but without disruption on creatures, it won't work or work just as well as current ally lists against combo decks.
Most Allies are Humans , too. So i set Meddling Mage and the Freebooter in my all creature Ally list. The big problem is after all, that this isn't so much disruptive or "Anti Tempo" like the real Human list. On the other side, our creatures are the better beater.
Mana was never the real Problem with Allies. But with Unclaimed Territory we can support a second tribal in our Board.
Unfortunately, I feel the thread is going to be dead for awhile due to no upcoming sets with allies AND 5c humans taking the role of a tribal aggro deck.
Ok, my (very short) Update to my 5c Ally List : The Manabase is running very well, but the new Human Additions aren't good without Thalia.
@amicdeep
All your thoughts are pretty good!
I think Drana, Liberator of Malakiris worth to play. Her biggest problem is, that she is a bit slow. But first strike and flying with a good ability, why not?
Jwari Shapeshifter how useful is the versatility and is phantasmal image just better
i think both are on the same level, but i think Phantasmal Image is bit better, because every (target) removal kills a creature .
Cloudshift is a decent card, but Path to Exile is better in the most way. As example to exile one of our creatures to search a needed BasicLand if a BloodMoon is on the Battlefield. And you make your way free to attack your Opponent.
Abzan Falconer: In Allies lists in Asia i have seen Abzan Falconer often as 1-Off . a fine card for a good evasion.
Selfless Spirit is a brilliant card. It's for me a must have sb card. Sweepers are a very common threat against every Tribal Decks.
To play TL is palying like Oran-Rief Survivalist. metallic mimic is fragile against every removal and he didn't got bigger. A (good) Control Player save his removal for all creatures that benefit from the mimic and let the mimic survive with his harmless 2/1 .
at the moment most of my budget ally build seem to lacking in tempo, im using 4 Lead the Stampede but this doesn't seem enough. dose anyone have any idea about tempo cards that may work well in the deck that i've missed (possibly ninja of the deep hours but again this doesn't feel quite right)
Dificult, because the most "Speed Booster" are expensive for a good reason. i prefer Collected Company. Maybe Descendants' Path may work for you as budget Version.
About the Future!
I don't think that Allies are going to be dead Decktype. Allies builds natural +1/+1 counters and it will be coming a lot +1/+1 effects cards that can support this in a great way.
As Example what i mean: Hadana's Climb . This card is a beast if you can support the color.
With Arcane Adaption there could be strange but good synergies in the future or something that was overlooked. With the new Lands we can support 2 Tribals in 1 Deck.
For a RW Aggro Ally Deck is Path of Mettle decent choice. With Kor Bladewhirl even the weakest creature is save and it can be flipped. RW Aggro Decks are lacking in Toughness. First strike is in a RW very useful.
We are the Enthusiast to this Decktype and we must be brew and evolve our Lists to get the strongest Ally Deck ever before. I have reasons to believe there is room for the next Level/Generation of Allies.
So, I had been toying with allies of late before I found this thread. I ended up going 3/1 at FNM last week losing to GR tron (which is probably not a good matchup for us).
Champion of the Parish is new to my list. I tried Expedition Envoy last week and while it wasn't half bad, I feel like Champion gives me a more aggressive curve. The Envoy is a bit stronger when you draw it later triggering ally ETB triggers but I think the upfront strength of the champion might be worth the loss of value later. I am still sort of toying with my landbase as I continue to test this but I am trying to keep my landbase at a point where I might be able to play through Blood Moon in a pinch.
I guess nothing about my list really stands out too much. I considered going into other humans but ultimately I felt like really I just wanted the small bump to my one drops that Champion of the Parish seems to give me. Otherwise I am fairly happy with my two drops. I am toying with a single copy of Abzan Falconer right now but I could also see that moving to sideboard depending on how it tests but I thought it was kind of cool but ultimately really bad in duplicates so I only stuck a single copy for now. I ran into a lot of Devoid / colorless creatures last week though which made Kabira Evangel a little questionable which is part of why I wanted to try the Falconer.
So, I have been playing arround with this list a lot with mostly just goldfishing. I know allies isn't super popular these days but I just love the little buggers lol. I didn't manage to catch modern at FNM last week as I was out of town but I hope to play my list again in two weeks when we do modern again. Its just FNM so its nothing huge but its been enjoyable to me to jam out my allies so I keep doing it.
Akoum Battlesinger - these guys can result in some big allies but they are huge glass cannons. The decks that don't really run creatures they seemed like they might be good against and they might do some work vs boggle (who kind of never has blockers) but ultimately I didn't like them against decks that ran creatures unless I could pair them with Kabira Evangel and in those cases Evangel was good against those decks anyways.
Abzan Falconer - It was just too much of a tempo loss too often. It was cool when it worked but I got it way too often when I didn't want it. Opening hands sucked with it and it generally paired oddly with Kabira Evangel. Ultimately it seemed like a sideboard card at best.
Kabira Evangel - ok, so I cut back from 4x of these to 3x and this was mostly because I was seeing too many instances where I was drawing 2+ of these at the same time which got awkward. There are a lot of decks these kind of don't work against too given all the eldrazi out there, affinity, and potentially creature light / creatureless decks. Overall I felt that settling to a 3x copies of this was a better plan for me in that I felt like I was seeing a little too much of them but I still like them a lot I don't like seeing duplicates.
Aether Vial - I think this card is cool and it still is a good fallback vs Blood Moon but ultimately I didn't feel like I was utilizing it as well as I wanted. They are super cool when paired with Kabira Evangel for the instant speed protections but it was another card that sucked to get duplicates of and even the starts that I had one I questioned if it added enough to my game.
Lead the Stampede - This card really isn't good enough in the mainboard without running Aether Vial or Harabaz Druid. I think its interesting still but I think it might work better in like a combo allies list. From the side it seemed like Return to the Ranks was a stronger card for me for when I get matchups that have a lot of removal.
NEW ADDS:
Bojuka Brigand - so, he kind of sucks in that he cant block which is part of why I don't run many. Still though I needed more allies in general and when it comes to attackers I think it works alright. Some of where I got to was that I just needed more copies really of my two drop power gaining allies which led me to think that perhaps I just needed to keep their count light but keep them in the list.
Kalastria Healer - I play some against lantern control player which this was in part an experiment of mine to see if it let me threaten him after he forts up with Ensnaring Bridge. I did however find their small life syphoning to be helpful against opposing aggro and midrange decks though as well especially when the board would get bogged down. The problem is that they are not that aggressive so its a more defensive ally but it also gives a little bit of reach and stability as well so its kind of an odd ally for me in that its kind of a maybe closer and maybe a stabilizer kind of an ally but it also buffs all my guys up. I am still playing with their counts to figure out exactly where I want to be but given that they don't add the speed and pressure I neccesarily need vs combo decks I don't see myself wanting to run four of them right now.
Captain's Claws - most all of my allies trigger on allies entering. I consdiered a few different options between Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, Oath of Gideon, and a few other token makers and ultimately I liked how Captain's Claws gave a somewhat quick result for three mana and continued to generate value. It seems potentially useful with Kabira Evangel and most of the other allies as well. I guess the question is going to come down to if its better to have a bigger burst of them upfront or continue to have value as time moves on. Right now I am testing out a few ideas and options.
Path to Exile - I go back and forth on mainboard Paths. I think for now I just want to keep the number in check because its not every game that I want them. For now I am keeping the number at a more reasonable number with the option to bolster them in side.
Also I guess you will notice my sideboard is kind of heavy on artifact / enchantment hate and hate for tron / storm. My sideboard as it stands is mostly a meta sideboard so I won't go deep but there is kind of a lack of graveyard decks in the meta as of right now and in some types of graveyard decks I can overcome them by adding anti aggro lifegain tactics or path to exiles so I felt that until I encounter an issue there I won't worry about it too much.
Overall though, I bolstered my ally count up a little in this new version. The new addition of Captain's Claws is sort of an attempt to add a little more over time value with a little more immediate impact than Lead the Stampede had. I still suspect that this list will probably be somewhat weak to Tron and Combo but I will continue to test and poke at it.
So, I am still here plugging away at allies lol. I brought it to a 20 person FNM event last week and went 4-1 with the following list taking second place:
The deck seemed to be somewhat budget and a little more focused on sticking to the board which made him slower. I didn't have much challenge here.
Game 2: 2-1 vs Storm
Very close and rough games. Game 1 my opponent curved off on turn three while going first. I brought in a TON of hate for him but didn't find any game two. Luckily for me though he mulliganed down to 5 cards and couldn't set up fast enough for my non sideboard to run him down. Game three he set up a cost reducer turn two and I landed Damping Sphere which stuck against him. He spent several turns answering everything I would play since he couldn't go off but ultimately he scooped as he couldn't dig his way out.
Game 3: 2-0 vs Goblins
This was very one sided and I swept through him. I don't know how he got two wins to get to this point with goblins but it is just FNM I suppose.
Game 4: 2-0 vs Hallowed One
Game one my opponent didn't have early game creatures and seemed to be spinning his wheels to find them. He did spot remove a few of my creatures but I was a lot faster than him. Game two he opened with Flameblade Adept and got in some good opening damage. I set up with two allies and he dropped Blood Moon on me on his third turn. I happened to have a plains and it managed to get me by for a few turns and I was able to get three allies in play and their size was more than he could handle. I haven't played against this matchup much but the player did say he was new to the deck so I don't know how optimal of hands he kept.
Game 5: 1-2 Affinity
Game one my opponent was too slow to stop me from a solid curve game. Game two I managed to bring him down to 4 hp but he stabilized behind Ghirapur Aether Grid + Arcbound Ravager while removing most of my threats I was playing newly to the board. Game three I found a lot of sideboard cards but my curve sucked and I ended up playing Rec Sage + 2 Suppression Field and he managed to equip his equipment through 2x Supression Fields. I think the Rec Sages were a little too slow for him to be honest as well. They were somewhat close games and in the end I feel like it might just be a tough matchup where they are solidly faster than me. I could possibly bring in Stony Silence for this matchup and in retrospect I think I will shift my Kataki, War's Wage to Stony Silence given how many ways they have to kill him these days especially after sideboard. I loved Kataki back when I played elves but some of that was due to my ability to Chord of Calling for him. This matchup comes down to getting lucky on my end as well as a question of how many sideboard slots I want to devote to it. Stony Silence is a much better sideboard card than Suppression Field in this matchup but I like how many combo decks Suppression Field might help me against which is why I am running it.
So, I guess my take away for this week:
Champion of the Parish - It was a HUGE improvement for an aggro build over Expedition Envoy. It was still awkward in several ways though mostly being when you would draw them outside of the opening hand suddenly you have this pidley little creature that doesn't grow your other creatures but I think overall it brought up how explosive this deck is in its opening turns. So I guess its a trade off in how useful it is later but its much stronger in the opener than the Envoy was.
Bojuka Brigand - So, I think these are still kind of ok. Vs combo / control decks this guy is fine and is mostly just extra copies of Oran-Rief Survivalist but I did manage to find two of these as like.... my only allies in game three vs affinity and it was REALLY bad. I am going to keep kicking them around for a bit but I think they definitely are in the range where you really only want to run two or three of these tops because when you find more than one of them they can REALLY suck. Most of the night they did some good work for me and it was really only when I went up against a faster more aggressive deck that they brought up their issue and perhaps I should have sided one or two of them out but some of it was a learning experience I guess.
Kalastria Healer - They were very hit and miss this last week. I still kind of like their ability to give me a little bit of reach and I did still close out one game where my opponent was beginning to put up defenses by playing a second copy and then another ally for an impressive drain for 4 in one turn. Overall though.... I am still kind of trying to figure out if they are good enough or not. They are kind of a middelground between aggro defense and the small bit of reach vs decks who put up creatures but I might end up trying out Akoum Battlesinger for its pressure vs combo decks instead in this spot. The fact that I added a few Ondu Cleric to my mainboard this last week also did kind of make them less impressive though too.
Ondu Cleric - They were a nice mainboard addition vs aggro but they did feel a little heavy with the Kalastria Healer all main. I don't think I would want to go too high on the count in the main just because vs non aggro matchups I almost always side them out. Still though, I felt like it freed up some sideboard slots to main a few of them which was nice.
Kabira Evangel - When these are good they are great but again I encountered several decks that either don't use creatures or use colorless creatures. For now I will keep the count at three but man, I sided them out a lot this last week.
Captain's Claws - it was just too slow. Lots of decks would start to stabilize arround this time and what I actually wanted was to be faster and more aggressive or more control. For now I am probably going to go away from them as its just not enough assistance fast enough.
Moving forward, I guess I will tweak counts and try out some more cards. Vs combo I really wanted some mainboard interaction so I might bring the Paths back in. I wish I could somehow justify some sort of hand hate or something a little more versatile for removal like Abrupt Decay but as of right now they just don't fit my build or my landbase.
I have run a bit more of a Naya toolbox deck. I feel really favored against most creature decks with it - the life gain is just nuts. It is a bit soft to combo, but it's fast enough to frequently end the game on turn four if they don't have good interaction. I really like Akoum battlesinger along with Expedition envoy and hada freeblade as they enable the most busted draws. Turn two harabaz is also really sweet. You can try to aggro out early with red/white, chord for Kabira in some cases, or mirror entity to really pump your team. I debate whether it should be 2 or three chord of calling.
I feel like the toolbox helps us bring in bombs for specific matches and have a couple copies via chord, although mine may be tuned for my meta.
Abzan falconer is really important in the matches where they have colorless creatures or lot's of fliers.
For the budget conscious, the caverns could be cut for Unclaimed Territory
I have run a bit more of a Naya toolbox deck. I feel really favored against most creature decks with it - the life gain is just nuts. It is a bit soft to combo, but it's fast enough to frequently end the game on turn four if they don't have good interaction. I really like Akoum battlesinger along with Expedition envoy and hada freeblade as they enable the most busted draws. Turn two harabaz is also really sweet. You can try to aggro out early with red/white, chord for Kabira in some cases, or mirror entity to really pump your team. I debate whether it should be 2 or three chord of calling.
I feel like the toolbox helps us bring in bombs for specific matches and have a couple copies via chord, although mine may be tuned for my meta.
Abzan falconer is really important in the matches where they have colorless creatures or lot's of fliers.
For the budget conscious, the caverns could be cut for Unclaimed Territory
Interesting take. I do like Chord of Calling but I question if allies can build in a fast enough way to really use it all that well. I used to play a lot of elves and so I prefer Chord more when having access to a heavier one drop count as well as a heavier mana dork count. Being that the dorks for allies are mostly restricted to Harabaz Druid I feel like it would be very slow outside of times where you can get set up and keep a Harabaz Druid.
I really do like Harabaz Druid but I feel like they are also sort of a trap in that you really should build around them if you run them or you are probably not using them very well but if you do build around them suddenly very swingy in how good your games are based on if you get and keep him or not. Allies has a little bit of an issue that the long term card advantage is a little sketchy. Something like Lead the Stampede would be an interesting way to use the Druid but if someone keeps you off of him suddenly the big intake of mana he gives gets a lot more questionable. Given that you are running Harabaz Druid I would maybe think that justifying like.... a copy or two of Kessig Wolf Run could be really crazy as alternative outs for the mana it provides.
I did also briefly weigh the option to build more one ofs into my list with Eldritch Evolution instead of Chord of Calling. The downside of Chord is it takes a swarm of guys or Harabaz Druid to efficiently fuel it where as Eldritch Evolution would allow a bit of a faster toolboxing. The downside I guess being that you don't actually bring up your creature count but it could be strong for sideboard toolboxes.
Private Mod Note
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
Chord is definitely a slower card in the deck, one of the reasons I am not sure about running three. The main plan is beat down with your allies, and usually the deck is pretty good at that. The chords come in really handy towards the point where the beat down could be running into trouble (mid to late game). It lets you beat midgame winners such as sweepers, control shenanigans, tron, too many bodies, being behind in damage race, infect, etc. There have been so many games won by having chord of calling at that pivotal point. I debated Eldritch evolution, but the instant speed is so relevant, also ee is card disadvantage and a huge blowout to counters. Also, at the point you usually cast chord, you usually you have some bigger beaters that you can swing with, then keep the smaller ones back to chord for win con, so it often doesn't feel like you are slowing down much at that point.
Harabaz druid also feels like the card that really makes chord/company work fast. A turn two unanswered harabaz druid usually means you win. There is so much to do with the mana she generates. If I wasn't running chord, I'd feel like she was a bit more of a liability, or lean more to kessig wolf run, as you mentioned. With chord, kessig is pretty difficult, as you need 3 green sources, and having 2 green creatures isn't always a given. A good one drop ally in green would make it so much easier. I keep hoping for an ally llanowar elves - lol.
I like the idea of lead the stampede, as too many one for ones can be an issue. Ally encampment is the only other source of card advantage we have, and the reason I run four over cavern of souls.
Chord is definitely a slower card in the deck, one of the reasons I am not sure about running three. The main plan is beat down with your allies, and usually the deck is pretty good at that. The chords come in really handy towards the point where the beat down could be running into trouble (mid to late game). It lets you beat midgame winners such as sweepers, control shenanigans, tron, too many bodies, being behind in damage race, infect, etc. There have been so many games won by having chord of calling at that pivotal point. I debated Eldritch evolution, but the instant speed is so relevant, also ee is card disadvantage and a huge blowout to counters. Also, at the point you usually cast chord, you usually you have some bigger beaters that you can swing with, then keep the smaller ones back to chord for win con, so it often doesn't feel like you are slowing down much at that point.
Harabaz druid also feels like the card that really makes chord/company work fast. A turn two unanswered harabaz druid usually means you win. There is so much to do with the mana she generates. If I wasn't running chord, I'd feel like she was a bit more of a liability, or lean more to kessig wolf run, as you mentioned. With chord, kessig is pretty difficult, as you need 3 green sources, and having 2 green creatures isn't always a given. A good one drop ally in green would make it so much easier. I keep hoping for an ally llanowar elves - lol.
I like the idea of lead the stampede, as too many one for ones can be an issue. Ally encampment is the only other source of card advantage we have, and the reason I run four over cavern of souls.
I worry a little that Chord of Calling becomes somewhat of a train wreck without Harabaz Druid though. In general unless you are going for a slower control / combo allies Harabaz Druid seems like its a little bit of a trap for an aggro build in that it encourages you to build in ways that might be detrimental to your deck if you don't find a Druid or if your opponent has spot removal. Allies also has kind of a hard time being green based right now as a main focus given that its white reliance in Hada Freeblade and Kazandu Blademaster can be rather disastrous with basic forests.
Most of the time I keep circling back whenever I try builds with Harabaz Druid that it seems to work better for a control / combo build than an aggro allies. My issue with control and combo allies though is that there are just too few good allies that fit that mentality and even then you migth still be split with some aggro mechanics given the lack of one drop control / combo allies. I keep trying to make Harabaz Druid work but thats where I keep ending up with it.
One of the few sort of aggro builds I do circle back to Harabaz Druid for tend to be Lead the Stampede and possibly Hagra Diabolist as a light splash finisher. Some of the tricky part on the druid though is that it competes with the aggro builds for the two spot which aggro builds are overloaded on. In the end I opted to just avoid them as a lot of the building mechanics for allies with what we have right now make the Druid really a challenge to work with. When it comes to aggro builds it seems to be more stable to not rely on them from my own testing just given the competition for two drops paired with slowing the deck down to try to work with them which backfires if you don't find them or they get answered.
Still though, there seem to be a LOT of options for builds with allies even with a somewhat small pool that doesn't change much. I am going back to the drawing board and will try to come up with another build for next time I get to bring mine out.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
Well, I have a new updated list. I ended up missing the modern FNM this month due to a family vacation but I figured I would keep plugging at it given I have been having fairly good results with it so far.
Path to Exile - I was having some issues with combo decks and very fast decks. I didn't really have anything mainboard that was helping me against combo so this is some hope that I might be able to slow them down as well as interact a little better against faster decks. When I was playing against tron I noticed that there were a good number of creatures that were answer or die and when playing against other decks like storm I also wished I had some means to interact with their cost reducers.
Akoum Battlesinger - I think these guys give me a little faster presence to my list. I like how they are fast due to their haste and the possibility of cloning them could be strong. Against decks I have to race I think they should add a bit of speed to the deck and against decks that these will be weak against, I feel the deck tends to be good against already. These tend to be weak against decks with a lot of creatures but those decks I have been having really good success against already so ultimately I want to give them a shot. Being that they are red also kind of helps out in the times I might encounter Blood Moon.
Firemantle Mage - Kabira Evangel is still VERY good but the times where its not, I am hoping that shifting one copy to Firemantle Mage might make the sideboard effect less all or nothing on my list. I have been finding with eldrazi, affinity, and some tron decks I have issues with how many colorless creatures they run. Firemantle Mage is still probably a little weaker as an overall when compared to all the decks out there but I have been finding a lot of times where I have had to pull Kabira Evangel out in the side where it would possibly be nice to still have some evasion. I unfortunately can't really justify Firemantle Mage in my sideboard so I am toying with my mainboard counts to see how the difference might play out.
SIDEBOARD - Generally my sideboard right now is built to try to fight tron, storm, affinity, and combo. I probably could use a little more vs control decks in side but given my own local meta I have not put as much focus on it. Being that I am running 4x caverns my issue vs control tends to be more towards sweepers and spot removal which is why I run Return to the Ranks from side. I also have not devoted much space for the vs aggro / burn but that is in part because so far I have had a lot of success against those decks and with the two mainboard Ondu Cleric I have felt fairly comfortable with the less slots devoted to vs aggro / burn decks.
I guess that's all for now. Hopefully I get another chance to play it soon but I have been very happy with the list so far.
I have tried 75 different ways to grant evasion without reducing ally triggers, coco hits, or excessive mana costs. Rancor is amazing but reduces coco and more paths are usually better. Ondu champion misses on coco. I find firemantle to not be enough support to evangel
Agadeem Occultist is something I have been debating on possibly adding SB or MB. How did it work out for you overall besides taking the master of waves? Do you feel it has a spot in our MB? Or is it too janky and we should focus on beatdown?
Also how was Mark of Asylum? It's something I'm thinking of adding to SB instead of Leylines...I feel like against, burn I don't mind taking a few hits here and there because as long as we have our creatures we can race faster.
I believe that Solidarity of Heroes is just better as Bioshift, but you can play both. Put the +1/+1 counter effects Pre-Board, in the Sideboard a lot of Dodge Effects like Heroic Intervention and Blossoming Defense against Control Decks.
Must be really Funny. You get real monsters in a short time and great Combat tricks. Hope you survive the Spot Removals . And who knows, maybe we have all overlooked the next competiv Ally Build.
1 Cavern of Souls
2 Flooded Strand
4 Forest
1 Gavony Township
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Horizon Canopy
5 Plains
3 Temple Garden
4 Windswept Heath
//Spells
3 Animation Module
4 Arcane Adaptation
2 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
4 Path to Exile
3 Champion of Lambholt
4 Hada Freeblade
4 Harabaz Druid
4 Kazandu Blademaster
3 Metallic Mimic
2 Oran-Rief Survivalist
4 Turntimber Ranger
1 Collective Effort
2 Condemn
1 Dromoka's Command
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Pithing Needle
3 Rest in Peace
3 Stony Silence
1 Sundering Growth
Quick Card Choices
Turntimber Ranger + Arcane Adaptation Infinite Wolfes and Ally Triggers AND the Reason to build this.
Champion of Lambholt --> Kabira Evangel. She give the Team the needed Evasion and Counters. Better on its own.
Edit: Champion of Lambholt got the +1/+1 counters and can get a Thread on its own. Too often the Kabira Evangel doing really nothing. And she have a impact. If you Topdecked her you have a little Boardstate and she can interact all of them(!). And alone as a 1/1 there aren't no Chump Blocks possibly with 1/1 Spirits for example. And she didn't need Ally Triggers to working that is important for the Servo Combo and she goes infinite Big as long as you have Mana with the Animation Module as a example. She is much better in this special Deck
Animation Module + Metallic Mimic works on its own with "Servo", but very very well with Arcane Adaptation. And the most Cards interacts with the Rest of the Deck.
Nissa, Voice of Zendikar Do all we want.
"special" MaybeCards
Westvale Abbey, we go most of Time wide #dificult Manabase
Mana Dorks: Mana is essential in this Deck. 4xHarabaz Druid is not enough
Veteran Warleader , say someone wide?
Sigil Captain an another Synergy Card #too slow
The Rest are the "Ally All Stars"
Random Sideboard Thoughts
...to build a transform Sideboard Deck. To switch from Combo into Aggro Deck, or do it in the other Way.
P.S.: I knew it's 64 cards in this Deck. I tweak this Deck (with the Manabase) after the Full Ixalan Spoiler revealed
P.P.S.: "Animated Bant Allies" -- Hope i reANIMATED the Ally Type Decks
Happy Brewing and i will be happy if we get here a Discussion ( i will like every next posting here! ) .
Edit: little Adjustment to the Deck. By far not finished the Deck Building.
I really think going into colors other than this is just an utter waste of potential, and we could have a t2 deck on our hands if we got our heads together, worked at this, and quit monkeying around in red.
Also, Pretty Sure Return To The Ranks is way better than people are evaluating it as. Its another burst of speed we can use to close out that can reliably pull in 2-3 bodies, more if youre not actually sitting on an empty board. All without the Randomness of CoCo. I think 1-2 are mainboardable, with an extra in the side for control heavy matchups.
I have even consider to play Winding Constrictor with Hardened Scales. With B you can finally play one of the best Allies
( Drana, Liberator of Malakir).
But you have a point. In most of all my builds there are always and . This two colors are the strongest for the Ally Players.
Return to Ranks is my sideboard card against grindy matchups. It gives your Boardstate back after a wrath or a lot removal. And it gives you x Ally Triggers , too.
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There is something new that is great for us. Settle the Wreckage give us something against Elves, Merfolk and all other aggro strategys. We can wait and grow our Warriors if it is necessary. in the same time it's very dangerous if the Opponent play this card. In this case there is only mass blink that can help us with Eerie Interlude.
It looks like to have the same problems. We can get tall very quickly, but without disruption on creatures, it won't work or work just as well as current ally lists against combo decks.
I have posted my clue here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/alliesmtg/comments/7bzxi7/5c_human_allies/
Most Allies are Humans , too. So i set Meddling Mage and the Freebooter in my all creature Ally list. The big problem is after all, that this isn't so much disruptive or "Anti Tempo" like the real Human list. On the other side, our creatures are the better beater.
Mana was never the real Problem with Allies. But with Unclaimed Territory we can support a second tribal in our Board.
This Deck is pretty much untested
4 Ally Encampment
2 Ancient Ziggurat
3 Cavern of Souls
1 Plains
1 Reflecting Pool
2 Temple Garden
4 Unclaimed Territory
4 Windswept Heath
//Spells
4 Æther Vial
//Creatures
3 Akoum Battlesinger
1 Drana, Liberator of Malakir
1 Firemantle Mage
4 Hada Freeblade
1 Jwari Shapeshifter
4 Kabira Evangel
4 Kazandu Blademaster
4 Kitesail Freebooter
1 Kor Bladewhirl
4 Meddling Mage
3 Oran-Rief Survivalist
4 Thalia's Lieutenant
1 Veteran Warleader
1 Bala Ged Thief
2 Lantern Scout
1 Nature's Claim
3 Rest in Peace
2 Shapers' Sanctuary
2 Sin Collector
2 Stony Silence
1 Tuktuk Scrapper
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/deck-creation-modern/788320-modern-allies-vial-company-the-royal-flush-gang?page=2
Ok, my (very short) Update to my 5c Ally List : The Manabase is running very well, but the new Human Additions aren't good without Thalia.
@amicdeep
All your thoughts are pretty good!
I think Drana, Liberator of Malakiris worth to play. Her biggest problem is, that she is a bit slow. But first strike and flying with a good ability, why not?
i think both are on the same level, but i think Phantasmal Image is bit better, because every (target) removal kills a creature .
Cloudshift is a decent card, but Path to Exile is better in the most way. As example to exile one of our creatures to search a needed BasicLand if a BloodMoon is on the Battlefield. And you make your way free to attack your Opponent.
Abzan Falconer: In Allies lists in Asia i have seen Abzan Falconer often as 1-Off . a fine card for a good evasion.
Selfless Spirit is a brilliant card. It's for me a must have sb card. Sweepers are a very common threat against every Tribal Decks.
To play TL is palying like Oran-Rief Survivalist. metallic mimic is fragile against every removal and he didn't got bigger. A (good) Control Player save his removal for all creatures that benefit from the mimic and let the mimic survive with his harmless 2/1 .
Dificult, because the most "Speed Booster" are expensive for a good reason. i prefer Collected Company. Maybe Descendants' Path may work for you as budget Version.
are Avatar of the Resolute, Oona's Blackguard worth considering as wincos? Avatar is not good. Because if you have enough Allies with +1/+1 counters you didn't need him to. Better you play another Ally instead.
Oona's Blackguard is a real funny idea. With a empty board pretty bad, but it could be great solution against Combo and Control. Maybe with Arcane Adaptation as a shenigan brew
Speaking about mimic , Arcane Adaption and other shenigans, here a Ally brew that i made, but not tested yet:
3 Animation Module
3 Arcane Adaptation
2 Champion of Lambholt
4 Harabaz Druid
3 Metallic Mimic
2 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
3 Noble Hierarch
//ToolBox
1 Kabira Evangel
1 Selfless Spirit
1 Turntimber Ranger
//Land
1 Breeding Pool
2 Cavern of Souls
2 Flooded Strand
4 Forest
1 Gavony Township
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Horizon Canopy
3 Plains
3 Temple Garden
4 Windswept Heath
4 Hada Freeblade
4 Kazandu Blademaster
2 Oran-Rief Survivalist
//Spells
3 Chord of Calling
3 Path to Exile
1 Collective Effort
2 Condemn
1 Dromoka's Command
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Pithing Needle
3 Rest in Peace
2 Settle the Wreckage
2 Stony Silence
1 Sundering Growth
//Maybeboard
1 Captain's Claws
1 Collected Company
2 Descendants' Path
1 Drana, Liberator of Malakir
1 Hadana's Climb
1 Inspiring Call
1 Kabira Evangel
1 Rishkar, Peema Renegade
1 Secure the Wastes
2 Sigil Captain #Combo - Servo's
1 Sram's Expertise
1 Veteran Warleader
1 Westvale Abbey
About the Future!
I don't think that Allies are going to be dead Decktype. Allies builds natural +1/+1 counters and it will be coming a lot +1/+1 effects cards that can support this in a great way.
As Example what i mean: Hadana's Climb . This card is a beast if you can support the color.
With Arcane Adaption there could be strange but good synergies in the future or something that was overlooked. With the new Lands we can support 2 Tribals in 1 Deck.
For a RW Aggro Ally Deck is Path of Mettle decent choice. With Kor Bladewhirl even the weakest creature is save and it can be flipped. RW Aggro Decks are lacking in Toughness. First strike is in a RW very useful.
We are the Enthusiast to this Decktype and we must be brew and evolve our Lists to get the strongest Ally Deck ever before. I have reasons to believe there is room for the next Level/Generation of Allies.
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Hada Freeblade
4 Akoum Battlesinger
4 Jwari Shapeshifter
4 Kazandu Blademaster
4 Oran-Rief Survivalist
1 Abzan Falconer
4 Kabira Evangel
Land (22)
4 Ally Encampment
4 Cavern of Souls
1 Forest
1 Horizon Canopy
5 Plains
1 Temple Garden
2 Unclaimed Territory
4 Windswept Heath
4 Aether Vial
1 Lead the Stampede
4 Collected Company
1 Kataki, War's Wage
2 Ondu Cleric
2 Lantern Scout
2 Reclamation Sage
1 Rest in Peace
2 Worship
4 Damping Sphere
1 Return to the Ranks
Champion of the Parish is new to my list. I tried Expedition Envoy last week and while it wasn't half bad, I feel like Champion gives me a more aggressive curve. The Envoy is a bit stronger when you draw it later triggering ally ETB triggers but I think the upfront strength of the champion might be worth the loss of value later. I am still sort of toying with my landbase as I continue to test this but I am trying to keep my landbase at a point where I might be able to play through Blood Moon in a pinch.
I guess nothing about my list really stands out too much. I considered going into other humans but ultimately I felt like really I just wanted the small bump to my one drops that Champion of the Parish seems to give me. Otherwise I am fairly happy with my two drops. I am toying with a single copy of Abzan Falconer right now but I could also see that moving to sideboard depending on how it tests but I thought it was kind of cool but ultimately really bad in duplicates so I only stuck a single copy for now. I ran into a lot of Devoid / colorless creatures last week though which made Kabira Evangel a little questionable which is part of why I wanted to try the Falconer.
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[Modern] Allies
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Hada Freeblade
2 Bojuka Brigand
4 Jwari Shapeshifter
3 Kalastria Healer
4 Kazandu Blademaster
4 Oran-Rief Survivalist
3 Kabira Evangel
SPELLS (9)
3 Captain's Claws
2 Path to Exile
4 Collected Company
4 Ally Encampment
4 Cavern of Souls
1 Forest
2 Horizon Canopy
4 Plains
1 Temple Garden
3 Unclaimed Territory
4 Windswept Heath
1 Kataki, War's Wage
2 Ondu Cleric
2 Lantern Scout
1 Reclamation Sage
4 Damping Sphere
1 Path to Exile
2 Fragmentize
2 Return to the Ranks
Some big changes from my last version:
WAS CUT / CUTBACK:
NEW ADDS:
Also I guess you will notice my sideboard is kind of heavy on artifact / enchantment hate and hate for tron / storm. My sideboard as it stands is mostly a meta sideboard so I won't go deep but there is kind of a lack of graveyard decks in the meta as of right now and in some types of graveyard decks I can overcome them by adding anti aggro lifegain tactics or path to exiles so I felt that until I encounter an issue there I won't worry about it too much.
Overall though, I bolstered my ally count up a little in this new version. The new addition of Captain's Claws is sort of an attempt to add a little more over time value with a little more immediate impact than Lead the Stampede had. I still suspect that this list will probably be somewhat weak to Tron and Combo but I will continue to test and poke at it.
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[Modern] Allies
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Hada Freeblade
3 Bojuka Brigand
4 Jwari Shapeshifter
3 Kalastria Healer
4 Kazandu Blademaster
2 Ondu Cleric
4 Oran-Rief Survivalist
3 Kabira Evangel
3 Captain's Claws
4 Collected Company
Basic Land (22)
4 Ally Encampment
4 Cavern of Souls
1 Forest
2 Horizon Canopy
4 Plains
3 Unclaimed Territory
4 Windswept Heath
1 Kataki, War's Wage
2 Ondu Cleric
2 Reclamation Sage
1 Rest in Peace
3 Suppression Field
4 Damping Sphere
2 Return to the Ranks
Game 1: 2-0 vs Jund Undying Creatures
The deck seemed to be somewhat budget and a little more focused on sticking to the board which made him slower. I didn't have much challenge here.
Game 2: 2-1 vs Storm
Very close and rough games. Game 1 my opponent curved off on turn three while going first. I brought in a TON of hate for him but didn't find any game two. Luckily for me though he mulliganed down to 5 cards and couldn't set up fast enough for my non sideboard to run him down. Game three he set up a cost reducer turn two and I landed Damping Sphere which stuck against him. He spent several turns answering everything I would play since he couldn't go off but ultimately he scooped as he couldn't dig his way out.
Game 3: 2-0 vs Goblins
This was very one sided and I swept through him. I don't know how he got two wins to get to this point with goblins but it is just FNM I suppose.
Game 4: 2-0 vs Hallowed One
Game one my opponent didn't have early game creatures and seemed to be spinning his wheels to find them. He did spot remove a few of my creatures but I was a lot faster than him. Game two he opened with Flameblade Adept and got in some good opening damage. I set up with two allies and he dropped Blood Moon on me on his third turn. I happened to have a plains and it managed to get me by for a few turns and I was able to get three allies in play and their size was more than he could handle. I haven't played against this matchup much but the player did say he was new to the deck so I don't know how optimal of hands he kept.
Game 5: 1-2 Affinity
Game one my opponent was too slow to stop me from a solid curve game. Game two I managed to bring him down to 4 hp but he stabilized behind Ghirapur Aether Grid + Arcbound Ravager while removing most of my threats I was playing newly to the board. Game three I found a lot of sideboard cards but my curve sucked and I ended up playing Rec Sage + 2 Suppression Field and he managed to equip his equipment through 2x Supression Fields. I think the Rec Sages were a little too slow for him to be honest as well. They were somewhat close games and in the end I feel like it might just be a tough matchup where they are solidly faster than me. I could possibly bring in Stony Silence for this matchup and in retrospect I think I will shift my Kataki, War's Wage to Stony Silence given how many ways they have to kill him these days especially after sideboard. I loved Kataki back when I played elves but some of that was due to my ability to Chord of Calling for him. This matchup comes down to getting lucky on my end as well as a question of how many sideboard slots I want to devote to it. Stony Silence is a much better sideboard card than Suppression Field in this matchup but I like how many combo decks Suppression Field might help me against which is why I am running it.
So, I guess my take away for this week:
Moving forward, I guess I will tweak counts and try out some more cards. Vs combo I really wanted some mainboard interaction so I might bring the Paths back in. I wish I could somehow justify some sort of hand hate or something a little more versatile for removal like Abrupt Decay but as of right now they just don't fit my build or my landbase.
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[Modern] Allies
4x Hada Freeblade
4x Expedition Envoy
4x Harabaz Druid
4x Oran-Rief Survivalist
4x Kazandu Blademaster
2x Beastcaller Savant
4x Akoum Battlesinger
Toolbox Creatures - Main (4)
1x Lantern Scout
1x Kabira evangel
1x Ondu Cleric
1x Mirror Entity
4x Collected Company
3x Chord of Calling
2x Path to Exile
Lands (21)
4x Windswept Heath
2x Wooded Foothills
4x Ally Encampment
3x Cavern of Souls
3x Forest
1x Plains
1x Stomping Ground
2x Temple Garden
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Eidolon of Rhetoric
1x Kataki, War's Wage
1x Melira, Sylvok Outcast
1x Phyrexian Revoker
1x Abzan Falconer
1x Selfless Spirit
1x Scavenging Ooze
1x Remorseful Cleric
2x Eerie Interlude
2x Ondu Cleric
3x Ancient Grudge
I feel like the toolbox helps us bring in bombs for specific matches and have a couple copies via chord, although mine may be tuned for my meta.
Abzan falconer is really important in the matches where they have colorless creatures or lot's of fliers.
For the budget conscious, the caverns could be cut for Unclaimed Territory
Interesting take. I do like Chord of Calling but I question if allies can build in a fast enough way to really use it all that well. I used to play a lot of elves and so I prefer Chord more when having access to a heavier one drop count as well as a heavier mana dork count. Being that the dorks for allies are mostly restricted to Harabaz Druid I feel like it would be very slow outside of times where you can get set up and keep a Harabaz Druid.
I really do like Harabaz Druid but I feel like they are also sort of a trap in that you really should build around them if you run them or you are probably not using them very well but if you do build around them suddenly very swingy in how good your games are based on if you get and keep him or not. Allies has a little bit of an issue that the long term card advantage is a little sketchy. Something like Lead the Stampede would be an interesting way to use the Druid but if someone keeps you off of him suddenly the big intake of mana he gives gets a lot more questionable. Given that you are running Harabaz Druid I would maybe think that justifying like.... a copy or two of Kessig Wolf Run could be really crazy as alternative outs for the mana it provides.
I did also briefly weigh the option to build more one ofs into my list with Eldritch Evolution instead of Chord of Calling. The downside of Chord is it takes a swarm of guys or Harabaz Druid to efficiently fuel it where as Eldritch Evolution would allow a bit of a faster toolboxing. The downside I guess being that you don't actually bring up your creature count but it could be strong for sideboard toolboxes.
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[Modern] Allies
Harabaz druid also feels like the card that really makes chord/company work fast. A turn two unanswered harabaz druid usually means you win. There is so much to do with the mana she generates. If I wasn't running chord, I'd feel like she was a bit more of a liability, or lean more to kessig wolf run, as you mentioned. With chord, kessig is pretty difficult, as you need 3 green sources, and having 2 green creatures isn't always a given. A good one drop ally in green would make it so much easier. I keep hoping for an ally llanowar elves - lol.
I like the idea of lead the stampede, as too many one for ones can be an issue. Ally encampment is the only other source of card advantage we have, and the reason I run four over cavern of souls.
I worry a little that Chord of Calling becomes somewhat of a train wreck without Harabaz Druid though. In general unless you are going for a slower control / combo allies Harabaz Druid seems like its a little bit of a trap for an aggro build in that it encourages you to build in ways that might be detrimental to your deck if you don't find a Druid or if your opponent has spot removal. Allies also has kind of a hard time being green based right now as a main focus given that its white reliance in Hada Freeblade and Kazandu Blademaster can be rather disastrous with basic forests.
Most of the time I keep circling back whenever I try builds with Harabaz Druid that it seems to work better for a control / combo build than an aggro allies. My issue with control and combo allies though is that there are just too few good allies that fit that mentality and even then you migth still be split with some aggro mechanics given the lack of one drop control / combo allies. I keep trying to make Harabaz Druid work but thats where I keep ending up with it.
One of the few sort of aggro builds I do circle back to Harabaz Druid for tend to be Lead the Stampede and possibly Hagra Diabolist as a light splash finisher. Some of the tricky part on the druid though is that it competes with the aggro builds for the two spot which aggro builds are overloaded on. In the end I opted to just avoid them as a lot of the building mechanics for allies with what we have right now make the Druid really a challenge to work with. When it comes to aggro builds it seems to be more stable to not rely on them from my own testing just given the competition for two drops paired with slowing the deck down to try to work with them which backfires if you don't find them or they get answered.
Still though, there seem to be a LOT of options for builds with allies even with a somewhat small pool that doesn't change much. I am going back to the drawing board and will try to come up with another build for next time I get to bring mine out.
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[Modern] Allies
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Hada Freeblade
3 Akoum Battlesinger
2 Bojuka Brigand
4 Jwari Shapeshifter
4 Kazandu Blademaster
2 Ondu Cleric
4 Oran-Rief Survivalist
1 Firemantle Mage
2 Kabira Evangel
4 Path to Exile
4 Collected Company
Land (22)
4 Ally Encampment
4 Cavern of Souls
1 Forest
2 Horizon Canopy
4 Plains
3 Unclaimed Territory
4 Windswept Heath
2 Fragmentize
4 Damping Sphere
1 Ondu Cleric
2 Rest in Peace
2 Return to the Ranks
2 Stony Silence
2 Suppression Field
CHANGES FROM LAST TIME:
Path to Exile - I was having some issues with combo decks and very fast decks. I didn't really have anything mainboard that was helping me against combo so this is some hope that I might be able to slow them down as well as interact a little better against faster decks. When I was playing against tron I noticed that there were a good number of creatures that were answer or die and when playing against other decks like storm I also wished I had some means to interact with their cost reducers.
Akoum Battlesinger - I think these guys give me a little faster presence to my list. I like how they are fast due to their haste and the possibility of cloning them could be strong. Against decks I have to race I think they should add a bit of speed to the deck and against decks that these will be weak against, I feel the deck tends to be good against already. These tend to be weak against decks with a lot of creatures but those decks I have been having really good success against already so ultimately I want to give them a shot. Being that they are red also kind of helps out in the times I might encounter Blood Moon.
Firemantle Mage - Kabira Evangel is still VERY good but the times where its not, I am hoping that shifting one copy to Firemantle Mage might make the sideboard effect less all or nothing on my list. I have been finding with eldrazi, affinity, and some tron decks I have issues with how many colorless creatures they run. Firemantle Mage is still probably a little weaker as an overall when compared to all the decks out there but I have been finding a lot of times where I have had to pull Kabira Evangel out in the side where it would possibly be nice to still have some evasion. I unfortunately can't really justify Firemantle Mage in my sideboard so I am toying with my mainboard counts to see how the difference might play out.
SIDEBOARD - Generally my sideboard right now is built to try to fight tron, storm, affinity, and combo. I probably could use a little more vs control decks in side but given my own local meta I have not put as much focus on it. Being that I am running 4x caverns my issue vs control tends to be more towards sweepers and spot removal which is why I run Return to the Ranks from side. I also have not devoted much space for the vs aggro / burn but that is in part because so far I have had a lot of success against those decks and with the two mainboard Ondu Cleric I have felt fairly comfortable with the less slots devoted to vs aggro / burn decks.
I guess that's all for now. Hopefully I get another chance to play it soon but I have been very happy with the list so far.
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[Modern] Allies