no problem at all, I didn't have time as well throughout the weekend to fix my post. I updated it to format the deck better.
I'm all up to continue brewing around this, especially if the meta becomes prevalently aetherworks, as spell queller and tamiyo trumps that.
please let me know what you think of it, and if you feel that it would be a better alternative than the bant/uw midrange decks that showed up on the pro tour.
I, for one, have at the moment jumped on the grixis emerge bandwagon - complete absence of grave hate in the format, instant speed wrath effects already seem to go over the top of almost everything my version of the deck does so far.
Looking at your deck list, there seems to be too few creatures to sacrifice in order to make Eldritch Evolution works. Here is your list, with the creatures rearranged by mana cost :
Removing Nissa and Traverse for more creatures to sacrifice would be good. You certainly don't want to sac Queller and give back the opponent its spell, and Displacer is probably too precious for that. One more Reflector Mage would be good, as for the rest, it's up to you.
Your Grixis Emerge is probably better, however. Bant Evolution misses something to make it shine, and I don't know what. Maybe it's because the metagame was so aggressive after rotation. That's why I dumped the deck for Ally Evolution, with all ETB abilities affecting the battlefield right away in an aggressive fashion, and life gain to make Aggro's life miserable. Of course, it probably has a bad matchup to Control, but I hope I can solve this puzzle before Game Day.
Played some games on Cockatrice and I'm not really sure I like Evolution in this deck at all. Especially if control decks are going to be on the rise after the Pro Tour.
It's a 2-for-1 if it gets countered and we don't really get any value out of things we're evolving. I tried Evolution out in Modern Elves and the plan there was to play 2 drops with ETB effects such as Dwynen's Elite, Coiling Oracle or Elvish Visionary. Which means that when you evolve it, you already got something out of them and you turn them into a 4 drop like Chameleon Colossus or Thrun, the Last Troll.
I'd much rather focus on a slightly lower curve an pack up on March from the Tomb. Kalastria Healers are absolute beasts. Second one hitting the board already drains them for 2 and with our curve being pretty low we can easily gain 5-10 life over the course of the game. I agree that March is weak to counterspells but with it we can be aggressive with our creatures knowing we can potentially bring them back later in the game.
Copter is great especially its interaction with Reckless Bushwacker. We can play Copter, surge a Bushwacker then in response to Bushwackers ETB effect, crew the Copter with it or another ally such as Kalastria Healer. This way Copter gets +1/+0 and haste as well.
Played some games on Cockatrice and I'm not really sure I like Evolution in this deck at all. Especially if control decks are going to be on the rise after the Pro Tour.
It's a 2-for-1 if it gets countered and we don't really get any value out of things we're evolving. I tried Evolution out in Modern Elves and the plan there was to play 2 drops with ETB effects such as Dwynen's Elite, Coiling Oracle or Elvish Visionary. Which means that when you evolve it, you already got something out of them and you turn them into a 4 drop like Chameleon Colossus or Thrun, the Last Troll.
I'd much rather focus on a slightly lower curve an pack up on March from the Tomb. Kalastria Healers are absolute beasts. Second one hitting the board already drains them for 2 and with our curve being pretty low we can easily gain 5-10 life over the course of the game. I agree that March is weak to counterspells but with it we can be aggressive with our creatures knowing we can potentially bring them back later in the game.
Copter is great especially its interaction with Reckless Bushwacker. We can play Copter, surge a Bushwacker then in response to Bushwackers ETB effect, crew the Copter with it or another ally such as Kalastria Healer. This way Copter gets +1/+0 and haste as well.
I disagree with you. Evolution in this deck is a surgical knife. Don't use it at the first opportunity. Play other Allies instead, add presence to the battlefield. Eventually you get a duplicate, and that becomes the sacrifice for Evolution. And even without duplicates, Bushwhacker is ALWAYS a good sacrifice (being a tiny 2/1 vanilla after it has done it's job, with Haste or Surge). And even without Bushwhacker to sacrifice, you have to analyze Evolution potential on what it can do to win THIS turn, or next turn.
Sometimes, the best Evolution is to turn a Lantern Scout into a Firemantle Mage. Of course you'll lose Lifelink, but Menace can be the right skill to win on the spot (and you don't need more life if you win anyway).
Other times, the best Evolution is just to get a 4/5 Sylvan Advocate in the late game, or a duplicate Advocate to pump up your Shambling Vent to 6/7 Lifelink.
And at other times, you'll just trade a Sylvan Advocate, a Lantern Scout or even Drana (!!!) for a Kalastria Healer if you need to ping for 1 more damage, or 2 or 3 if you have other Allies to play this turn on top of it, and win! Or you'll get the Healer just to get a trigger before you chump block, knowing that next turn you're going to get it back with March from the Tomb, and what you needed now for the strategy to work out is just an extra Healer in the graveyard.
Don't try to necessarily evolve into something bigger. Just evolve into what will give you victory. It's a toolbox deck!
Don't forget that you also have General Tazri as a potential Evolution. She doesn't have an impressive body, but she comes with a tutored Ally (fix you needs with it, and again, this is not necessarily the most powerful Ally, but just the right tool to seize victory), and an anthem you can probably activate next turn with Aether Hub.
I agree that Cliffhaven Vampire is not so good. I realized yesterday that it triggers once per life gain event, and not once per life gained. Still, more testing will tell us if it's a tool to win, or not. If it is the right Ally to win in a particular situation, I'll never be shy to sac an Advocate to get it, even with 6+ lands.
Munda is awesome to fix your top deck for a couple turns, even if he dies quickly. Sacrificing any 2cmc Ally to get it should be a good play if a fatter Haste body is required. And chances are you'll get back the Ally you just sacrificed on the top of your deck quite fast. Not optimal, but not a crazy play.
Most of the time, of course, I want to evolve a drop 3 into Tajuru Warcaller. You shouldn't worry sacrificing Drana, Scout or Bushwhacker to get the Warcaller. Of course you lose something. But if what you get is better (say +7/+6 Haste on 7 Allies, like it happen to me last FNM), then don't hesitate!
Against Control, I admit that Eldritch Evolution is the first card I'll Side out. Combo lose to Control, and Evolution is clearly our most Combo card. And if the Control player has a lot of exile effects in his removals or counterspells, March from the Tomb will get out too. Blossoming Defense and Munda, Ambush Leader are clearly the best cards vs Control, and I would play the full set of each in the 75 if Control translates from Pro Tour to local FNM. But Torrential Gearhulks are very rares, sold out not only because of demand, but because it is a scarce card. This, and its price, will refrain players from playing Control for a certain time, I think.
I have to admit my assessment of Evolution was based mostly on the couple of random matchups on Cockatrice and is hardly representative of the current meta. And the fact that I'm used to playing it in Modern where it served a little bit different purpose than here.
One question regarding Tazri, I know we're only playing her as one of and her pump effect isn't relevant that often but do you think it's worth it to adjust mana and add a few more blue sources? Like swapping a forest or two for Botanical Sanctum? At the moment it's only possible to activate her via Aether Hub while it's not particularly hard to have Allies in 2-4 different colours on the battlefield. Munda is WR, Healer is B, Advocate is G which means pump for +4/+4 later on.
I have to admit my assessment of Evolution was based mostly on the couple of random matchups on Cockatrice and is hardly representative of the current meta. And the fact that I'm used to playing it in Modern where it served a little bit different purpose than here.
One question regarding Tazri, I know we're only playing her as one of and her pump effect isn't relevant that often but do you think it's worth it to adjust mana and add a few more blue sources? Like swapping a forest or two for Botanical Sanctum? At the moment it's only possible to activate it via Aether Hub while it's not particularly hard to have Allies in 2-4 different colour on the battlefield. Munda is WR, Healer is B, Advocate is G which means pump for +4/+4 later on.
Maybe. I've been thinking of trading one or two Forest for Botanical Sanctum (UG fast land), not only for Tazri, but also to push the deck on the Aggro-Control axis of the clock to defeat Control with Dispel or Combo with Ceremonious Rejection.
And yes, you do have to learn using Evolution differently in Standard than Modern. Like I said in the Primer, this isn't a toolbox deck that has a tool to fix a problem set by the opponent. It uses its tool to create a problem, or set a win condition. And we have many!
Add a third Healer.
Get around with Menace.
Overwhelm with Warcaller.
Deny victory with Lifelink.
Counter trades with First Strike.
Etc...
I like this change. Although I don't expect Allies in Amonkhet block, I think the core is strong enough to survive with the addition of potential new cards.
Gideon obviously took the place of Munda and Cliffhaven on the curve. And I was impressed by Kor Entanglers last FNM, so I decided to add it to the maindeck toolbox (in lieu of Tajuru Warcaller ; I will miss the duplicate ). That was the easy (and not so easy) part.
Fine tuning after that was quite hard. I had to fix the main base to support Gideon and considered removing Drana, Liberator of Malakir, to reduce the B mana requirements and help fix W. But the core is very tight, and there's not a lot of room to navigate :
6 Forest : Required to cast Attune with Aether on T1 (74% with Aether Hub).
3 Basic Lands (Mountain, Plains, Swamp) : Targets for Attune with Aether.
2 manlands : Always useful, and better with Sylvan Advocate. Shambling Vent has the best body (vs Hissing Quagmire or Needle Spires), and it fixes most T2 needs.
23 TOTAL : So there's 2 open slots for additionnal lands. Given the GG and WW needs for Evolution and Gideon, it had to be 1 Fortified Village (increasing to 78% odds of casting Attune on T1) and 1 Canopy Vista (to help the shadowland).
Even then, the odds of casting Gideon on T4 weren't great (70%). So I decided to add a single Traverse the Ulvenwald. It plays the same role as Attune with Aether (Evolving Wilds replacement), and can possibly fetch any land or creature in the late game if I can get Delirium (somewhat possible with 5 card types in the deck and Copter to fill the graveyard). In the end, the odds of WW on T4 are 74%, and BB on T3 is still 76% for the purpose of casting Drana (as good as it was before). The odds are a bit better than that with the help of Smuggler's Copter (looting away to fix my lands).
One card had to go, and I decided to push 1 March from the Tomb to the sideboard. It is pretty much useless against the combo decks (Aetherworks or Colossus), and the various spell with exile effects (removals, counterspells and discards), and it makes the top of the curve a bit too crowded (along with the other 5cmc tools that cannot be cut).
SIDEBOARD PLAN VS AGGRO
+1 Unified Front (hard to deal threat)
+1 March from the Tomb (chump block and come back)
+1 Tajuru Warcaller (increase the curve for late)
+2 Blossoming Defense (opponent will go control)
+2 Blessed Alliance (respect the speed of the matchup)
-2 Gideon (vulnerable to Copters)
-1 General Tazri (too slow)
-1 Smuggler's Copter (theirs will be bigger)
-1 Sylvan Advocate (not impressive vs 3/x)
-1 Reckless Bushwhacker (don't rush and tap out)
-1 Eldritch Evolution (reduce sacrifice)
SIDEBOARD PLAN VS CONTROL
+3 Arlinn Kord (hard to deal threat)
+2 March from the Tomb (come back from sweepers)
-3 Eldritch Evolution (2 for 1 vs counterspell)
-1 General Tazri (less Eevo = less 5cmc)
-1 Kor Entanglers (less Eevo = less 5cmc)
SIDEBOARD PLAN VS COMBO
+4 Fragmentize (stall the game)
-1 March from the Tomb (lower the curve)
-1 General Tazri (lower the curve)
-1 Eldritch Evolution (less need for Eevo)
-1 Firemantle Mage (probably useless)
I will probably have to reconsider General Tazri. It seems she's always going to get sided out... Maybe she doesn't belong in the main deck at all?
Bad FNM. The deck needs more double colored lands, to have better information on color production, before playing Attune with Aether. And it doesn't have to be played on turn 1. In fact, it can wait turn 3 on 2 lands to fetch the third and play and a drop 2.
Also, The deck needs to play more man lands to compound on Sylvan Advocate, and get extra gas for the long game.
There's a lot more sweepers in the metagame than right after the rotation. Combo, Control and Midrange all adapted to the Aggro decks. Removing one March from the Tomb from the main deck was a mistake.
Drana is too slow and hard to cast, I think. It would be better adding Blossoming Defense to the main deck, as a sensible solution to the removals, and a combat trick vs creatures.
If at all possible, I would like to squeeze 2-3 Expedition Envoy in the main deck. An extra cheap body against Control wouldn't hurt, and it combo very well with Reckless Bushwhacker and March from the Tomb.
Not so good Game Day. I made mistakes, and lost games I should have won. Pretty happy with the manabase however. Far better than it was before. But I learned a few more things about this deck, particularly when I played and won a friendly game against the guy who won the Game Day (Azorius Flash Aggro).
I will dump Eldritch Evolution tomorrow from the deck. There's so many attrition in the metagame right now, that Evolving a single Bushwhacker into a Tajuru Warcaller when the board is otherwise empty... just bad. Blossoming Defense is amazingly good, both against removals and aggro (becomes a pseudo-removal). Allies stay alive with this, and the more the better with all the Rally abilities. Munda’s 3/4 body is excellent in the metagame. It resists many removals, and it's scry 4 Rally is a good way to dig the deck for the tools. Gideon is just wow. Adding a 2/2 token on the battlefield, on top of another Ally means double triggers on Rally (Healer, Warcaller, Munda!). T4 Gideon/token, and T5 Warcaller/token means the first token attacks as a 6/6!!!
I miss Drana, and she will be coming back to the deck. With Blossoming Defense to support her and the troops, I pretty certain that she will be better.
Expected changes :
-3 Eldritch Evolution
-2 Kor Bladewhirl
+1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
+2 Blossoming Defense
+2 Drana, Liberator of Malakir
I wish I could lower the curve a bit, but I don't really want to move Kor Entanglers or the the second Tajuru Warcaller to the sideboard. And I wish Munda could be increased to 3 in the main deck.
Expedition Envoy is too good to pass up. We need to put pressure on our opponent as soon as possible and having 2 power on board T1 is great. On top of that it's a 1 drop which means it only eats up 1CMC for March from the Tomb.
Beastcaller Savant is our T2 ramp. Fixes our mana which is already quite stretched, has haste which means with Warcaller or any other Ally with rally on board, he benefits from it immediately.
I've decided to try out one copy of Captain's Claws. I know you're against it but since I don't expect them to board in artifact removal it can be enough to give us extra rally triggers on attack.
Agree with you on Eldritch Evolution. With Control being rampant I think there are far too many chances of getting 2-for-1'd.
How well are you doing with the deck? I've been following your ally's tribal deck for a long time! I really like your mechanics and would like to have some more updates about your results in tournaments! Thanks for the decks, keep them coming till allies rotate
How well are you doing with the deck? I've been following your ally's tribal deck for a long time! I really like your mechanics and would like to have some more updates about your results in tournaments! Thanks for the decks, keep them coming till allies rotate
Sorry for not updating the thread. Game Day was horrible. The deck has a good feeling, and is amazing when it is allowed to do its job. Problem is, the best decks (UW Flash, GB Delirium and WR Vehicles) all have good removals in the main deck to disrupt the plan, and an excellent sideboard to close the deal.
Because the Ally tribe doesn't have a solution to this problem WITHIN the tribe, all efforts to make the tribe work will dilute the deck (any non-Ally spell played is a lost trigger to Rally, the only thing that makes our creatures better than vanilla).
Old Innistrad's Werewolves could fight attrition with Full Moon Rise and Wolfir Avenger and stay on theme. Golgari Charm was also a good option as it was an instant (transform) and had many useful modes. Synergy was maintained, and that was crucial to the tribe.
M14-M15 Slivers were also fine with Dissoluton Sliver and Athreos, God of Passage. Either the removals' cost was increased so much controlling became impossible until too late, or controlling was punished through damage or card advantage. The rest of the cards could be 100% Slivers, and synergy at maximum level.
Allies have nothing like that. We would have needed an Ally with Flash to trigger Rally at instant speed (flickering with a non-Ally spell doesn't do enough, and it can't be done at reasonable cost or within color), and maybe grant a defensive Rally (+0/+3?). Collected Company made the deck possible before rotation, and I had good success with it at major events. At least we could recover quickly with it. But Eldritch Evolution is no replacement for CoCo, and no matter how hard I tried, I can't solve this puzzle and make the deck perform at the level I want to play (I'm not just a Johny, but also a Spikes hybrid).
So I felt pretty burned out after Game Day and took a 2 weeks break. I came back with a Boros Humans Burn deck of my own design, and won tonight's FNM at 3-0 (even against UW Flash)!
I feel like there's others options to support allys... i was thinking something like Zada, and some sideboard spells to protect them. I feel ve ry bad that the deck can't cauight up with the actual meta u_u
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I'm all up to continue brewing around this, especially if the meta becomes prevalently aetherworks, as spell queller and tamiyo trumps that.
please let me know what you think of it, and if you feel that it would be a better alternative than the bant/uw midrange decks that showed up on the pro tour.
I, for one, have at the moment jumped on the grixis emerge bandwagon - complete absence of grave hate in the format, instant speed wrath effects already seem to go over the top of almost everything my version of the deck does so far.
4 Servant of the Conduit
3 Sylvan Advocate
3 Reflector Mage
3 Spell Queller
1 Eldrazi Displacer
1 Odric, Lunarch Marshal
1 Gisela, the Broken Blade
1 Archangel Avacyn
1 Cataclysmic Gearhulk
1 Verdurous Gearhulk
1 Emrakul, the Promised End
spells
3 Smuggler's Copter
2 Tamiyo, Field Researcher
3 Eldritch Evolution
3 Spatial Contortion
3 Traverse the Ulvenwald
2 Nissa, Vital Force
4 Aether Hub
3 Botanical Sanctum
4 Evolving Wilds
3 Forest
1 Island
2 Plains
3 Prairie Stream
1 Wastes
3 Fortified Village
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
3 Declaration in Stone
2 Fragmentize
2 Stasis Snare
2 Appetite for the Unnatural
2 Negate
1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
1 Sigarda, Heron's Grace
Removing Nissa and Traverse for more creatures to sacrifice would be good. You certainly don't want to sac Queller and give back the opponent its spell, and Displacer is probably too precious for that. One more Reflector Mage would be good, as for the rest, it's up to you.
Your Grixis Emerge is probably better, however. Bant Evolution misses something to make it shine, and I don't know what. Maybe it's because the metagame was so aggressive after rotation. That's why I dumped the deck for Ally Evolution, with all ETB abilities affecting the battlefield right away in an aggressive fashion, and life gain to make Aggro's life miserable. Of course, it probably has a bad matchup to Control, but I hope I can solve this puzzle before Game Day.
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
It's a 2-for-1 if it gets countered and we don't really get any value out of things we're evolving. I tried Evolution out in Modern Elves and the plan there was to play 2 drops with ETB effects such as Dwynen's Elite, Coiling Oracle or Elvish Visionary. Which means that when you evolve it, you already got something out of them and you turn them into a 4 drop like Chameleon Colossus or Thrun, the Last Troll.
Looking at our list, I really don't want to turn our Kalastria Healer, Kor Bladewhirl or Sylvan Advocate into Cliffhaven Vampire or Munda, Ambush Leader. And with Tajuru Warcaller being our only 5 drop, we need either Lantern Scout or Reckless Bushwacker to evolve and it just doesn't seem like a good line of play.
I'd much rather focus on a slightly lower curve an pack up on March from the Tomb. Kalastria Healers are absolute beasts. Second one hitting the board already drains them for 2 and with our curve being pretty low we can easily gain 5-10 life over the course of the game. I agree that March is weak to counterspells but with it we can be aggressive with our creatures knowing we can potentially bring them back later in the game.
Copter is great especially its interaction with Reckless Bushwacker. We can play Copter, surge a Bushwacker then in response to Bushwackers ETB effect, crew the Copter with it or another ally such as Kalastria Healer. This way Copter gets +1/+0 and haste as well.
WBG Elves WBG
Cheeri0s
EDH:
RG Omnath, Locus of Rage RG || GWUB Atraxa, Praetors' Voice GWUB
R Zo-Zu the Punisher R || WU Brago, King Eternal WU
UB Gisa and Geralf UB || BGW Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW
I disagree with you. Evolution in this deck is a surgical knife. Don't use it at the first opportunity. Play other Allies instead, add presence to the battlefield. Eventually you get a duplicate, and that becomes the sacrifice for Evolution. And even without duplicates, Bushwhacker is ALWAYS a good sacrifice (being a tiny 2/1 vanilla after it has done it's job, with Haste or Surge). And even without Bushwhacker to sacrifice, you have to analyze Evolution potential on what it can do to win THIS turn, or next turn.
Sometimes, the best Evolution is to turn a Lantern Scout into a Firemantle Mage. Of course you'll lose Lifelink, but Menace can be the right skill to win on the spot (and you don't need more life if you win anyway).
Other times, the best Evolution is just to get a 4/5 Sylvan Advocate in the late game, or a duplicate Advocate to pump up your Shambling Vent to 6/7 Lifelink.
And at other times, you'll just trade a Sylvan Advocate, a Lantern Scout or even Drana (!!!) for a Kalastria Healer if you need to ping for 1 more damage, or 2 or 3 if you have other Allies to play this turn on top of it, and win! Or you'll get the Healer just to get a trigger before you chump block, knowing that next turn you're going to get it back with March from the Tomb, and what you needed now for the strategy to work out is just an extra Healer in the graveyard.
Don't try to necessarily evolve into something bigger. Just evolve into what will give you victory. It's a toolbox deck!
Don't forget that you also have General Tazri as a potential Evolution. She doesn't have an impressive body, but she comes with a tutored Ally (fix you needs with it, and again, this is not necessarily the most powerful Ally, but just the right tool to seize victory), and an anthem you can probably activate next turn with Aether Hub.
I agree that Cliffhaven Vampire is not so good. I realized yesterday that it triggers once per life gain event, and not once per life gained. Still, more testing will tell us if it's a tool to win, or not. If it is the right Ally to win in a particular situation, I'll never be shy to sac an Advocate to get it, even with 6+ lands.
Munda is awesome to fix your top deck for a couple turns, even if he dies quickly. Sacrificing any 2cmc Ally to get it should be a good play if a fatter Haste body is required. And chances are you'll get back the Ally you just sacrificed on the top of your deck quite fast. Not optimal, but not a crazy play.
Most of the time, of course, I want to evolve a drop 3 into Tajuru Warcaller. You shouldn't worry sacrificing Drana, Scout or Bushwhacker to get the Warcaller. Of course you lose something. But if what you get is better (say +7/+6 Haste on 7 Allies, like it happen to me last FNM), then don't hesitate!
Against Control, I admit that Eldritch Evolution is the first card I'll Side out. Combo lose to Control, and Evolution is clearly our most Combo card. And if the Control player has a lot of exile effects in his removals or counterspells, March from the Tomb will get out too. Blossoming Defense and Munda, Ambush Leader are clearly the best cards vs Control, and I would play the full set of each in the 75 if Control translates from Pro Tour to local FNM. But Torrential Gearhulks are very rares, sold out not only because of demand, but because it is a scarce card. This, and its price, will refrain players from playing Control for a certain time, I think.
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
One question regarding Tazri, I know we're only playing her as one of and her pump effect isn't relevant that often but do you think it's worth it to adjust mana and add a few more blue sources? Like swapping a forest or two for Botanical Sanctum? At the moment it's only possible to activate her via Aether Hub while it's not particularly hard to have Allies in 2-4 different colours on the battlefield. Munda is WR, Healer is B, Advocate is G which means pump for +4/+4 later on.
WBG Elves WBG
Cheeri0s
EDH:
RG Omnath, Locus of Rage RG || GWUB Atraxa, Praetors' Voice GWUB
R Zo-Zu the Punisher R || WU Brago, King Eternal WU
UB Gisa and Geralf UB || BGW Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW
Maybe. I've been thinking of trading one or two Forest for Botanical Sanctum (UG fast land), not only for Tazri, but also to push the deck on the Aggro-Control axis of the clock to defeat Control with Dispel or Combo with Ceremonious Rejection.
And yes, you do have to learn using Evolution differently in Standard than Modern. Like I said in the Primer, this isn't a toolbox deck that has a tool to fix a problem set by the opponent. It uses its tool to create a problem, or set a win condition. And we have many!
Add a third Healer.
Get around with Menace.
Overwhelm with Warcaller.
Deny victory with Lifelink.
Counter trades with First Strike.
Etc...
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar would be good too. But I have none, and at current price and so close to rotation, I don't want to invest in him so much...
I think it would be better to fight Control with Planeswalkers or recurrence, instead of splashing blue to go Aggro-Control.
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
A new Standard Rotation schedule has just been announced :
http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/revisiting-standard-rotation-2016-10-19
I'll invest in Gideon. Good for almost a year!
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
WBG Elves WBG
Cheeri0s
EDH:
RG Omnath, Locus of Rage RG || GWUB Atraxa, Praetors' Voice GWUB
R Zo-Zu the Punisher R || WU Brago, King Eternal WU
UB Gisa and Geralf UB || BGW Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW
4 Kalastria Healer
4 Sylvan Advocate
3 Kor Bladewhirl
2 Drana, Liberator of Malakir
4 Lantern Scout
4 Reckless Bushwhacker
1 Firemantle Mage
1 General Tazri
1 Kor Entanglers
1 Tajuru Warcaller
Pseudo-Creatures (5)
3 Smuggler's Copter
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
3 Eldritch Evolution
1 March from the Tomb
Spells (mana fixers) (5)
4 Attune with Aether
1 Traverse the Ulvenwald
Lands (21)
4 Aether Hub
4 Ally Encampment
1 Canopy Vista
1 Fortified Village
2 Shambling Vent
6 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Swamp
1 Unified Front
1 Tajuru Warcaller
2 Blossoming Defense
2 Blessed Alliance
2 March from the Tomb
3 Arlinn Kord
4 Fragmentize
These are the changes to the main deck :
+2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar (-1 Munda, Ambush Leader and -1 Cliffhaven Vampire)
+1 Kor Entanglers (-1 Tajuru Warcaller)
+1 Traverse the Ulvenwald (-1 March from the Tomb)
+1 Canopy Vista (-1 Blooming Marsh)
Gideon obviously took the place of Munda and Cliffhaven on the curve. And I was impressed by Kor Entanglers last FNM, so I decided to add it to the maindeck toolbox (in lieu of Tajuru Warcaller ; I will miss the duplicate ). That was the easy (and not so easy) part.
Fine tuning after that was quite hard. I had to fix the main base to support Gideon and considered removing Drana, Liberator of Malakir, to reduce the B mana requirements and help fix W. But the core is very tight, and there's not a lot of room to navigate :
One card had to go, and I decided to push 1 March from the Tomb to the sideboard. It is pretty much useless against the combo decks (Aetherworks or Colossus), and the various spell with exile effects (removals, counterspells and discards), and it makes the top of the curve a bit too crowded (along with the other 5cmc tools that cannot be cut).
SIDEBOARD PLAN VS AGGRO
I will probably have to reconsider General Tazri. It seems she's always going to get sided out... Maybe she doesn't belong in the main deck at all?
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
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Also, The deck needs to play more man lands to compound on Sylvan Advocate, and get extra gas for the long game.
There's a lot more sweepers in the metagame than right after the rotation. Combo, Control and Midrange all adapted to the Aggro decks. Removing one March from the Tomb from the main deck was a mistake.
Drana is too slow and hard to cast, I think. It would be better adding Blossoming Defense to the main deck, as a sensible solution to the removals, and a combat trick vs creatures.
If at all possible, I would like to squeeze 2-3 Expedition Envoy in the main deck. An extra cheap body against Control wouldn't hurt, and it combo very well with Reckless Bushwhacker and March from the Tomb.
4 Kalastria Healer
4 Sylvan Advocate
2 Kor Bladewhirl
4 Lantern Scout
4 Reckless Bushwhacker
2 Munda, Ambush Leader
2 Tajuru Warcaller
1 Kor Entanglers
Pseudo-Creatures (5)
3 Smuggler's Copter
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
Spells (7)
3 Eldritch Evolution
2 March from the Tomb
2 Blossoming Defense
4 Attune with Aether
Lands (21)
4 Aether Hub
2 Ally Encampment
2 Cinder Glade
2 Fortified Village
2 Shambling Vent
2 Hissing Quagmire
1 Inspired Vantage
3 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Swamp
2 Radiant Flames
1 Blossoming Defense
1 March from the Tomb
3 Arlinn Kord
1 Island
4 Ceremonious Rejection
1 General Tazri
2 Expedition Envoy
SB vs Aggro
+2 Radiant Flames
+1 March from the Tomb
+1 Blossoming Defense
-2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
-1 Eldritch Evolution
-1 Kor Entanglers
SB vs Combo
+1 Island
+4 Ceremonious Rejection
+2 Expedition Envoy
-2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
-3 Eldritch Evolution
SB vs Control
+1 March from the Tomb
+1 General Tazri
+3 Arlinn Kord
+1 Blossoming Defense
-3 Eldritch Evolution
-2 Tajuru Warcaller
-2 Kor Bladewhirl
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
I will dump Eldritch Evolution tomorrow from the deck. There's so many attrition in the metagame right now, that Evolving a single Bushwhacker into a Tajuru Warcaller when the board is otherwise empty... just bad. Blossoming Defense is amazingly good, both against removals and aggro (becomes a pseudo-removal). Allies stay alive with this, and the more the better with all the Rally abilities. Munda’s 3/4 body is excellent in the metagame. It resists many removals, and it's scry 4 Rally is a good way to dig the deck for the tools. Gideon is just wow. Adding a 2/2 token on the battlefield, on top of another Ally means double triggers on Rally (Healer, Warcaller, Munda!). T4 Gideon/token, and T5 Warcaller/token means the first token attacks as a 6/6!!!
I miss Drana, and she will be coming back to the deck. With Blossoming Defense to support her and the troops, I pretty certain that she will be better.
Expected changes :
-3 Eldritch Evolution
-2 Kor Bladewhirl
+1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
+2 Blossoming Defense
+2 Drana, Liberator of Malakir
I wish I could lower the curve a bit, but I don't really want to move Kor Entanglers or the the second Tajuru Warcaller to the sideboard. And I wish Munda could be increased to 3 in the main deck.
Finally, Painful Thruth is very tempting...
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
4 Aether Hub
4 Ally Encampment
2 Blooming Marsh
2 Botanical Sanctum
1 Concealed Courtyard
3 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Plains
2 Shambling Vent
1 Swamp
Spells (8):
2 Attune with Aether
2 Eldritch Evolution
4 March from the Tomb
3 Beastcaller Savant
4 Expedition Envoy
1 Firemantle Mage
4 Kalastria Healer
2 Kor Bladewhirl
2 Lantern Scout
1 Munda, Ambush Leader
4 Reckless Bushwhacker
4 Sylvan Advocate
1 Tajuru Warcaller
Artifacts (1):
1 Captain's Claws
Planeswalkers (4):
4 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
4 Blessed Alliance
2 Blossoming Defense
1 Cataclysmic Gearhulk
4 Fragmentize
1 Gisela, the Broken Blade
1 Immolating Glare
1 Kor Entanglers
1 Munda, Ambush Leader
Expedition Envoy is too good to pass up. We need to put pressure on our opponent as soon as possible and having 2 power on board T1 is great. On top of that it's a 1 drop which means it only eats up 1CMC for March from the Tomb.
Beastcaller Savant is our T2 ramp. Fixes our mana which is already quite stretched, has haste which means with Warcaller or any other Ally with rally on board, he benefits from it immediately.
I've decided to try out one copy of Captain's Claws. I know you're against it but since I don't expect them to board in artifact removal it can be enough to give us extra rally triggers on attack.
Agree with you on Eldritch Evolution. With Control being rampant I think there are far too many chances of getting 2-for-1'd.
WBG Elves WBG
Cheeri0s
EDH:
RG Omnath, Locus of Rage RG || GWUB Atraxa, Praetors' Voice GWUB
R Zo-Zu the Punisher R || WU Brago, King Eternal WU
UB Gisa and Geralf UB || BGW Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW
4 Kalastria Healer
4 Sylvan Advocate
2 Drana, Liberator of Malakir
4 Lantern Scout
4 Reckless Bushwhacker
2 Munda, Ambush Leader
2 Tajuru Warcaller
1 Kor Entanglers
Pseudo-Creatures (6)
3 Smuggler's Copter
3 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
Spells (6)
1 Painful Truths
2 March from the Tomb
3 Blossoming Defense
4 Attune with Aether
Lands (21)
4 Aether Hub
2 Ally Encampment
2 Canopy Vista
2 Shambling Vent
2 Hissing Quagmire
1 Fortified Village
1 Concealed Courtyard
1 Blooming Marsh
3 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Swamp
2 Blessed Alliance
1 Blossoming Defense
1 March from the Tomb
3 Arlinn Kord
1 Island
4 Ceremonious Rejection
1 General Tazri
2 Firemantle Mage
SB vs Aggro
+2 Blessed Alliance
+2 Firemantle Mage
+1 March from the Tomb
+1 Blossoming Defense
-3 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
-1 Painful Truths
-2 Reckless Bushwhacker
SB vs Combo
+1 Island
+4 Ceremonious Rejection
+2 Firemantle Mage
-3 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
-2 Tajuru Warcaller
-2 March from the Tomb
SB vs Control
+1 March from the Tomb
+1 General Tazri
+3 Arlinn Kord
+1 Blossoming Defense
-4 Lantern Scout
-2 Tajuru Warcaller
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
Sorry for not updating the thread. Game Day was horrible. The deck has a good feeling, and is amazing when it is allowed to do its job. Problem is, the best decks (UW Flash, GB Delirium and WR Vehicles) all have good removals in the main deck to disrupt the plan, and an excellent sideboard to close the deal.
Because the Ally tribe doesn't have a solution to this problem WITHIN the tribe, all efforts to make the tribe work will dilute the deck (any non-Ally spell played is a lost trigger to Rally, the only thing that makes our creatures better than vanilla).
Old Innistrad's Werewolves could fight attrition with Full Moon Rise and Wolfir Avenger and stay on theme. Golgari Charm was also a good option as it was an instant (transform) and had many useful modes. Synergy was maintained, and that was crucial to the tribe.
M14-M15 Slivers were also fine with Dissoluton Sliver and Athreos, God of Passage. Either the removals' cost was increased so much controlling became impossible until too late, or controlling was punished through damage or card advantage. The rest of the cards could be 100% Slivers, and synergy at maximum level.
Allies have nothing like that. We would have needed an Ally with Flash to trigger Rally at instant speed (flickering with a non-Ally spell doesn't do enough, and it can't be done at reasonable cost or within color), and maybe grant a defensive Rally (+0/+3?). Collected Company made the deck possible before rotation, and I had good success with it at major events. At least we could recover quickly with it. But Eldritch Evolution is no replacement for CoCo, and no matter how hard I tried, I can't solve this puzzle and make the deck perform at the level I want to play (I'm not just a Johny, but also a Spikes hybrid).
So I felt pretty burned out after Game Day and took a 2 weeks break. I came back with a Boros Humans Burn deck of my own design, and won tonight's FNM at 3-0 (even against UW Flash)!
R.I.P. 4c Ally.
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.