The Royal Flush Gang is a surprisingly fast and resilient deck. It is mainly Aggro, but also features a few different Combos. Out of nowhere, it can either mill out opponent’s library or play enough hasted Allies on steroids to win on T3. The deck is very good because :
It is quite resistant to counterspells, removals and damage-based sweepers ;
It has a lot of card advantage and can perform in the long game (if it didn’t win by turn 3-4) ;
It can fight on two different axis of the metagame clock (Aggro and Combo) and adapt to the current matchup ;
It can switch to mill, if it can't win by combat (because of blockers, infinite life, Ensnaring Bridge, etc.) ;
It can attack with mass evasion and block with color protection ;
All this makes The Royal Flush Gang's matchup very hard to manage for our opponents : it can effectively dodge their main and SB plans, and/or win well before they can.
2-1 vs Lantern : I got locked out of combat game 1 (on the draw) without ever drawing an Excavator. A T2 Excavator on game 2 was too much for him to handle. And a Ratchet Bomb on 1 wiped his board of artifacts on game 3, destroying 2 Glimmervoid in the process.
2-1 vs Living End : Game 1 (on the draw), a timely Cryptic Command prevented me from winning on T4, and then I got Comboed by As Foretold/Living End the next turn. Won game 2 on T3 with Envoy, Druid, Battlesinger, Shapeshifter and a random Ally for some extra +1/+0 triggers and exactly 20 damage. Game 3, a T2 Rest In Peace crushed opponent's plan, then I Milled him.
2-0 vs Esper Shadow : Won game 1 (on the play) by attacking through a 6/6 Death's Shadow with 2 Blademasters (6/4 and 7/5 with First Strike) and a 3/1 Battlesinger. I got him game 2 with an Evangel and its Clone, both protected from his removals by Vialed in Allies.
Casual games (XMage, kitchen table) :
12-2 on XMage, 01/21/2018
2-1 vs Grixis Control (01/20/2018) : I've lost game 2 to double Damnation. Otherwise, Control matchups are long but somewhat easy since most of their counterspells are dead cards (due to Cavern and Vial), and we can blank their removals with Evangel and Encampment.
1-0 vs 4c Saheeli (01/20/2018) : Opponent played Felidar Guardian on turn 3 (with Lotus Cobra), flickered Oath of Nissa and revealed Saheeli. I only had Battlesinger and Freeblade on the battlefield, and not enough to go lethal. EOT I played Druid with Vial. I top decked CoCo, cycled Canopy to draw Envoy, played CoCo to reveal Battlesinger and Evangel, then Envoy for some triggers, and attacked for lethal, unblockable.
1-2 vs Skred Red (01/21/2018) : I never played that matchup, and didn't know what to expect. I lost game 1 with one land after opponent played Blood Moon and destroyed my Vial and two 1-drop with Ratchet Bomb. I got him game two after killing Koth out onpf nowhere (thanks to Battlesinger and Shapeshifter). Game 3, opponent played a turn 2 Blood Moon, right before I top decked a fetchland. For good measure, he destroyed Vial with Ratchet Bomb and Druid with Lightning Bolt. Koth put me on a clock then, and I didn't top decked Vial or Forest to make a comeback.
2-1 vs UW Control (01/21/2018) : I won game 1 with Excavator & Shapeshifter, milling the guy in 2 turns with CoCo. Opponent thought I was strictly an Ally Mill deck, and bragged about how easily I was defeated by SB with Leyline of Sanctity. I've lost this game strictly because of misclicks (a glitch, because it happened twice in two turns). I conceded, not wanting to reveal my aggressive plan. Game 3, I tricked opponent into countering an Envoy, only to play Descendants' Path. This card won me the game. It played an Ally every turn, while I saved those in my hand to come back if he tried Supreme Verdict. He didn't, was eventually tapped out, and I went berserk with a flurry of Battlesinger, Shapeshifter and two more Allies for extra triggers. With the two Haste dudes, and the Freeblade and Blademaster that were already on the battlefield, I attacked for 29.
2-1 vs Goblin (01/21/2018) : Blademaster and Excavator are surprisingly good at blocking weenies.
2-1 vs Rakdos Burn (01/21/2018) : Ondu Cleric does miracles.
2-1 vs Hollow One (01/21/2018) : Blademaster can get to 4/4 fast, with First Strike and Vigilance. That's enough to attack through Hollow One, and defend against it. Enough said.
1-2 vs Soldiers (01/22/2018) : Game 1 was easy with Evangel. He got on the play game 2. But he burned me on game 3 with Foundry Champion (brought in with a Kithkin) while I had Ondu Cleric on the BF. CoCo failed to reveal more than one Ally. I needed 2 to gain enough life and avoid defeat. With Evangel already on the BF and material in my hand to trigger protection from white, I was ready to go lethal and unblocked next turn. Well...
2-1 vs Urza Tron (01/22/2018) : Lost game 1 to board wipe from Ugin on turn 4. With Vial, Druid and and Freeblade on T2 of game 2, I exploded on turn 3 with 3 Blademasters/Shapeshifters and another Druid. T4 with Battlesinger and Envoy for extra trigger, and it was GG. Game 3, I stalled with Envoy and Druid, attacking for 2 until he wiped the board with that artifact. I refilled with CoCo
2-0 vs UW Control (01/22/2018) : Can't remember the matchup, but it seems Control is always easy for the Gang.
2-0 vs Ponza (01/22/2018) : Won game 1 with no land. I only had a 4/5 Freeblade and Vial at 2, while opponent had Titan, Ooze, Arbor Elf and Bird. Titan attacked for 6+3, and opponent tapped out to play Tracker and pump Ooze to 5/5. He had 5 life left. EOT Battlesinger, upkeep Vial at 3 to Evangel and protection from green, trigger Freeblade and Battlesinger. Voilà! Game 2, I had a 4/5 Freeblade, 4/4 Blademaster, Druid and Vial at 2. I knew opponent had Bonfire on the top deck (because Courser, and he had the Chameleon). I tapped out for another Druid, only to bait opponent and get to 4 Allies. He then casted the miracle for 4, and I casted CoCo with Druid, revealing Evangel and Blademaster. Protection from red saved my team while his died. GG
2-0 vs Abzan Reanimator (01/22/2018) : Won game 1 with Evangel, attacking every turn through his Spirits. I gambled game 2, siding in RiP but keeping Excavator (risky business with Reanimator, but I figured we would be two working on filling his graveyard). Vial, followed by Excavator and Freeblade. T3 another Excavator, Shapeshifter from Vial, and Envoy with 3rd Land. He reanimated Siege Rhino next turn, but to no avail. One more Ally on turn 4, and he no longer had a library.
2-1 vs Ad Nauseum (01/22/2018) : Aggro won me game 1 on turn 4. He won game 2 on turn 4 with his deck in his hand and Laboratory Maniac on the BF. Game 3, I decided to try to mill him out of his Combo pieces. It paid off. I won with damage, but he didn't get to Combo.
2-0 vs Urza Tron (01/23/2018) : I don't recall the details, but I was more careful not to overextend my board presence. It paid off. He eventually got Karn on the BF, +4 to kill a dude, but he was tapped out and at 12 when I cast CoCo EOT, to get a Battlesinger and Excavator. On my turn, I played the same duo again, and attacked for 15 damage. Game 2 was about the same.
2-1 at House Tournament, 01/21/2018
2-1 vs Burn : Lost game 1 on the draw, obviously. Won game 2, with 1 life left. Won game 3 with still 75 left, thanks to Ondu Cleric and it’s clone.
1-2 vs Izzet Delver : I can honestly say this is the very first game the deck failed me (game 1 and 3). I lost game 1 with only 2 shocklands (RW and GW, to cast Blademaster, who died to Bolt), and 4 dead cards in my hand (2 x CoCo, DePath and Excavator). I won game 2 despite Blood Moon, with Blademaster and 2 Battlesingers. Game 3, opponent got my creatures with spot removal until turn 4, then with Vial at 2 and Shapeshifter in my hand and ready to copy whatever juicy Ally CoCo would revealed, I casted it while opponent was tapped out. But CoCo fizzled with nothing but 2 Shapeshifters. What were the odds, with another one in my hand?
2-1 vs Goblin : Won game 1 and 3 with a strong board and protection from red. Obviously lost game 2 to a large board, enhanced by Atarka's Command, and Goblin Grenade as a finisher.
Harabaz Druid is The Jack of Spades, by whom everything is possible : The explosive starts, the Combos, CoCo on T3, etc. Just present it as « an overcosted 0/1 mana dork ». Opponents who don't read the card and dismiss it as irrelevant won't make the same mistake twice. Akoum Battlesinger is The Queen of Hearts : She's good by herself, and amazing in multiples. She's centerpiece to the Gang's aggressive Combos, and most games will be won with her on the battlefield. Halimar Excavator is The King of Diamond : He's at best the Gang's alternate win condition, or at worst, an extra trigger to other Allies. Jwari Shapeshifter is The Joker : Cloning effectively cheats to 8 the number of Battlesingers and Excavators in the deck. This makes the Combos a lot more reliable, and allows for explosive mill or combat damage later in the game. Hada Freeblade, Kazandu Blademaster, Kabira Evangel and Expedition Envoy are The Aces of Clubs : Their mere presence is enough to add a crucial trigger to many Combos, but are otherwise already good on their own.
Hada Freeblade is strictly better than Champion of the Parish. Unchecked, it can outgrow many of Modern's minions.
Kazandu Blademaster doesn't distribute counters like Thalia's Lieutenant does, but it starts as a 2/2 and has First Strike and Vigilance. It continues to grow as you play Magic, and this makes it both a formidable attacker and blocker.
Kabira Evangel grants evasion the turn it's played (protection from blockers' color) and this plays amazingly well with fragile Battlesingers. With Aether Vial, it's possible to protect Allies from removals and/or have indestructible blockers.
Expedition Envoy is mostly a filler, but a very useful one. It can enable each and every of the Gang's Combos, and casting a cheap Ally to trigger Rally can be a finisher.
Aether Vial is necessary to trigger Rally at instant speed. It is also very useful vs Control, because its activation bypasses counterspells. Don't reveal an Ally when you activate it. If opponent lets the ability resolves, it will be too late to do anything before an Ally ETB and triggers Rally. This is particularly important with Jwari Shapeshifter, because opponent can otherwise remove the Ally you would have wanted to copy. Collected Company provides both card advantage and instant speed Rally triggers. Like Vial, it is part of many of the Gang's Combos and explosive turns. Descendants' Path is free mana and card advantage. Its trigger is as fast as Bob's (next upkeep). It's harder to remove and won't burn your like, but it costs one more mana and doesn't come with a 2/1 body. Scrying away Vial and lands starting T4 is just what the deck needs. It may sometimes remove CoCo from the top deck, but it's more likely to help you dig deeper and faster for the next CoCo (by dealing with any non-CoCo cards on the top deck). Unless you're really behind, this enchantment should win you the long game.
Cavern of Souls can name Humans early in game 1 if you want to confuse your opponent. The only Ally it won't be able to cast is the Shapeshifter. Amazing to prevent counterspells. Ally Encampment is a great mana fixer, but also provides crazy card advantage. Most opponents don't know about the bounce trick. It's an effective way to fizzle removals, as well as giving you back an Ally to cast (or vial) to trigger Rally again. This can be used defensively, but learn to use it aggressively : you're one trigger short to win the game after top decking Envoy? Bounce it, recast and voilà! Horizon Canopy fixes our color needs and can cycled if we flood out or get to the late game. Windswept Heath, Temple Garden, Sacred Foundry, Breeding Pool and Forest fix the rest of the manabase. Focus on fetching the Forest first if you expect Blood Moon. You'll still be able to cast Aether Vial, Harabaz Druid, Collected Company and Descendant's Path, and opponent would basically have lost a turn. Available mana sources, not considering whatever the Druid can produce :
T1 : 19W and for Envoy, Freeblade and Vial.
T2 : 19W, 13U, 13R and 19G for Blademaster, Excavator, Shapeshifter, Battlesinger and Druid.
T3-4 : 19W and 11G for Evangel, DePath and CoCo.
Matchups
Still under construction... Skred Red : Side in Pithing Needle and Natural State. Fetch for Forest ASAP, and watchout for Blood Moon. Destroy it when you can, or bypass it with Vial, Druid, CoCo and Battlesinger. Needle should name Ratchet Bomb if you know opponent is playing it. Otherwise, name Koth of the Hammer to lock opponent out of his win condition.
Update: Huge overhaul of the Primer. Please have a look and test the deck if you can. Don't dismiss it right away as just another Ally deck. I think it is well positioned in the current metagame. It certainly has a good matchup against Shadow and Control. It's not as disruptive as Humans, but only because it doesn't have to : the deck can win so fast with its Combos, there's just no need for interaction. If there is any need to remove blockers to win with the aggressive plan, Kabira Evangel can clear the way and make all attackers unblockable. Go ahead and challenge me. There are certainly flaws to this deck, but I don't think there are that much.
Glad to hear about the 3-0. I've been considering Excavator in my current list as well. I'm curious about the sideboard a bit. Which matches call for graffdigger's and which matches call for RiP? I'm also slowly becoming more sold on Descendant's Path or at least trying it. Another concern I have for it is if we play it then our board gets blown up, we then are tucking any card reveal. I'm probably being a too picky as you could probably play around that by keeping an ally in hand with vial on the field.
Just seems less consistent and less explosive than a 5 color 8whack-esque build running 12 1cmc beaters and Akoum/Reckless.
Ive tinkered with Harabaz Druid and Halimar Excavator in the past, but the problem is that theyre 2cmc do nothing cards by themselves. Expedition Envoy is already annoying enough to have to play due to our lack of card quality in 1 drops, and filling the deck with 8 more creatures that dont impact the board by themselves is rough.
I dont think your build is bad per-say, i just think as a combo deck reliant on its explosivity its less competetive than a naya or 5color build with their higher creature quality and grinding power. I do however like the incorporation of CoCo, which gives the deck unexpected lategame gas. (though i personally prefer spell-less versions with 36+ creatures). Having solid sideboard castables is nice too, though i think a good sideboard can be accomplished even with a zigguraut mana base.
After 10 test games id say its probably better than scales or gw human hybrid builds, but i'll be sticking with my 5c 8whack build.
Glad to hear about the 3-0. I've been considering Excavator in my current list as well. I'm curious about the sideboard a bit. Which matches call for graffdigger's and which matches call for RiP? I'm also slowly becoming more sold on Descendant's Path or at least trying it. Another concern I have for it is if we play it then our board gets blown up, we then are tucking any card reveal. I'm probably being a too picky as you could probably play around that by keeping an ally in hand with vial on the field.
With Descendants' Path, you of course always keep an Ally in hand to make a come back if the board ever gets wiped. This is particularly useful with Aether Vial, because you can play this last Ally on your upkeep before DePath's trigger resolves. Horizon Canopy can even help you draw an Ally at instant speed for that purpose (untap, sac Canopy to draw a card, activate Vial to play an Ally, then let DePath do its job before you finally go to the draw step). Collected Company during upkeep, after you untap, will also make sure you have an Ally on the battlefield for DePath.
I only use Grafdigger's Cage against CoCo decks, but it is on my watch list. I'll of course side out my own CoCo if I bring it in. I believe we're better trying to beat Abzan CoCo denying theirs but without our own.
Just seems less consistent and less explosive than a 5 color 8whack-esque build running 12 1cmc beaters and Akoum/Reckless.
Ive tinkered with Harabaz Druid and Halimar Excavator in the past, but the problem is that theyre 2cmc do nothing cards by themselves. Expedition Envoy is already annoying enough to have to play due to our lack of card quality in 1 drops, and filling the deck with 8 more creatures that dont impact the board by themselves is rough.
I dont think your build is bad per-say, i just think as a combo deck reliant on its explosivity its less competetive than a naya or 5color build with their higher creature quality and grinding power. I do however like the incorporation of CoCo, which gives the deck unexpected lategame gas. (though i personally prefer spell-less versions with 36+ creatures). Having solid sideboard castables is nice too, though i think a good sideboard can be accomplished even with a zigguraut mana base.
After 10 test games id say its probably better than scales or gw human hybrid builds, but i'll be sticking with my 5c 8whack build.
The mill plan has already won me games I would otherwise have lost, and I don't recall ever wishing a top deck Halimar Excavator to be an Oran-Rief Survivalist instead. Milling 10+ cards is pure data to help your SB decisions, even if you win by combat and not by decking the opponent.
Sorry for bugging but I'm very interested in other's opinions in ally decks so I may be posting a lot. Do you feel halimar excavator is a 4 of or bust? I'm debating trying them in the SB as a 4 of but perhaps in matchups we need the 3 games to try and win it.
Sorry for bugging but I'm very interested in other's opinions in ally decks so I may be posting a lot. Do you feel halimar excavator is a 4 of or bust? I'm debating trying them in the SB as a 4 of but perhaps in matchups we need the 3 games to try and win it.
No problem. This thread is alive as long as people are posting in it.
The reasoning behind Halimar Excavator is this :
We already have turn 3 Combos that relies on Akoum Battlesinger and Jwari Shapeshifter.
Haste is not the only way to play Allies to have an impact the turn they're played.
Excavator is an interesting Ally to copy, to multiply the mill effect.
Mill happens right away, while an Oran-Rief Survivalist can be removed before it ever gets to attack.
Blockers can't prevent mill, and it's a form of damage that can't be healed.
Another type of turn 3 Combo means there's one more way to get a fast free win. No other Ally can provide that.
The King of the Mill Combo only needs one Excavator and 2 more copies of it (Excavator or Shapeshifter). Since the Combo requires CoCo, we'll see 15 cards on the play, and we only 3 cards out of 8. The odds for this are better than most other combos in Modern.
For the time being, I'll continue with Excavator. I'm at 5-0-0 so far, so the deck configuration hasn't particularly failed me yet.
Below is what im currently running to great success at my LGS. I havent fogured out if i want to call it 8whack or 12whack yet, haha. This build is also capable of a turn 3 win, but can goldfish turn 5 with multiple sources of disruption.
To preface, ive been trying to make allies work in modern since before the printing of CoCo. Ive tried builds with both the excavator and the druid, and havent seen huge success with the exception of khans era scales CoCo, and recently with the printing of Unclaimed Territory and Ally Encampment finally allowing us to build 4 and 5 color decks. The issue in the past has always been a lack of access to redundancy, especially access to blue for the shapeshifter, due to stricter manabases. The combining of a Naya-esque build with supporting cards from blue and the brigand creates a best of both worlds deal that i think is the ideal environment for Aggro based allies to thrive.
My reasoning for disliking the druid and the excavator is that when you go up against any deck with early diusruption, you often have trouble "staying wide" with push, path, terminate etc. These are both creatures that by themselves have no attacking power, and only impact the boardstate if you already control 2-3 other allies. Cards like Oran-Rief and Reckless Bushwhacker create an immediate situation where you have a short or long term damage threat that must be dealt with. Basically, these cards pressure your opponents life total and can do so very early, whereas excavator and the druid pose no threat by themselves. Smart opponents will never throw removal or hand disruption at your excavator, because alone the card is useless. This leaves them free to concentrate on your game winning cards like Battlesinger and other damage dealers.
EDIT: I do think excavator is a valid option against certain matchups. Skred Red, 8rack, and Lantern Control become much easier. But I think overall the card loses some percentage points, and id either prefer it in the sideboard as a cheaply costed Tuktuk Scrapper substitute, or find a different way to exploit it. Maybe blink effects would be your friend here.
Harabaz Druid on the other hand could find a home in a CoCo/Hardened Scales setup with available mana sinks such as Mirror Entity, but in a lot of builds you dont have the card advantage to use the Druid to its full power. Maybe even some Sea Gate Loremaster cheese? Im unsure where this cards full potential lies.
Intresting path of which ive tried a bit for myself. It didnt include any Akoum Battlesingers though.
Have you considered Agadeem Occultist in conjunction with Halimar Excavator? I had a fun game against a Merfolk play of which I grabbed a Master of Waves at some point. Also Eerie Interlude provides both protection against board whipes and can single handidly win you the game if the board state is right. Also did my test version have Kalastria Healers in it for another drain life win condition and/or game stall before I could mill out my opponent.
Eerie Interlude is an interesting choice for the SB. Against sweepers (Supreme Verdict), I used Return to the Ranks. But it's a nonbo with Rest In Peace, a card that I often side in against UWx Control (because Snapcaster Mage and Delve cards). What I don't like about Eerie Interlude, is that it slows us down a lot once we have it in our hand. We keep mana open, just in case, and the last thing we want is to give time to the Control player... But I will try it, because it feels like the right card in that matchup.
1-2 vs Skred Red (01/21/2018) : I never played that matchup, and didn't know what to expect. I lost game 1 with one land after opponent played Blood Moon and destroyed my Vial and two 1-drop with Ratchet Bomb. I got him game two after killing Koth out onpf nowhere (thanks to Battlesinger and Shapeshifter). Game 3, opponent played a turn 2 Blood Moon, right before I top decked a fetchland. For good measure, he destroyed Vial with Ratchet Bomb and Druid with Lightning Bolt. Koth put me on a clock then, and I didn't top decked Vial or Forest to make a comeback.
2-1 vs UW Control (01/21/2018) : I won game 1 with Excavator & Shapeshifter, milling the guy in 2 turns with CoCo. Opponent thought I was strictly an Ally Mill deck, and bragged about how easily I was defeated by SB with Leyline of Sanctity. I've lost this game strictly because of misclicks (a glitch, because it happened twice in two turns). I conceded, not wanting to reveal my aggressive plan. Game 3, I tricked opponent into countering an Envoy, only to play Descendants' Path. This card won me the game. It played an Ally every turn, while I saved those in my hand to come back if he tried Supreme Verdict. He didn't, was eventually tapped out, and I went berserk with a flurry of Battlesinger, Shapeshifter and two more Allies for extra triggers. With the two Haste dudes, and the Freeblade and Blademaster that were already on the battlefield, I attacked for 29.
I'll update the Primer later today or tomorrow with these changes :
I'm considering swapping 1-2 Horizon Canopy for 1-2 Wooded Foothills in the main deck, to have more chances of getting my Forest vs Blood Moon. But then, maybe I just wasn't lucky vs Skred Red... what do you think?
Skred Red seems like a difficult matchup with board clears and blood moon. Fetchlands might help in that. I know I like to run a lot of fetches. Natural State should help against that situation.
Blood Moon cripples all variants of this deck due to its reliance on a nonbasic manabase. Definitely need 6+ fetches for green if your out is Natural State
Another option would be to play some of the many white two drops that can be sac'd to destroy enchantments or artifacts, or do it as they enter.
If you really wanna get meta, Manamorphose is hilarious in the board if you can pull it off
EDIT: There are like 4+ decks that run blood moon in the board that are in the meta, as well as Sun/Moon and Skred Red in the main. Definitely worth adjusting your mana base to combat it
Skred Red seems like a difficult matchup with board clears and blood moon. Fetchlands might help in that. I know I like to run a lot of fetches. Natural State should help against that situation.
Yeah. I figured why Natural State should be an auto include in the SB.
Some more results (Primer updated) : 2-1 at House Tournament, 01/21/2018
2-1 vs Burn : Lost game 1 on the draw, obviously. Won game 2, with 1 life left. Won game 3 with still 75 left, thanks to Ondu Cleric and it’s clone.
1-2 vs Izzet Delver : I can honestly say this is the very first game the deck failed me (game 1 and 3). I lost game 1 with only 2 shocklands (RW and GW, to cast Blademaster, who died to Bolt), and 4 dead cards in my hand (2 x CoCo, DePath and Excavator). I won game 2 despite Blood Moon, with Blademaster and 2 Battlesingers. Game 3, opponent got my creatures with spot removal until turn 4, then with Vial at 2 and Shapeshifter in my hand and ready to copy whatever juicy Ally CoCo would revealed, I casted it while opponent was tapped out. But CoCo fizzled with nothing but 2 Shapeshifters. What were the odds, with another one in my hand?
2-1 vs Goblin : Won game 1 and 3 with a strong board and protection from red. Obviously lost game 2 to a large board, enhanced by Atarka's Command, and Goblin Grenade as a finisher.
There is much you can learn from this list . It works with the Graveyard interaction and is a build around to Return to the Ranks.
If someone want to play this list, you must storngly looking for possible updates , because since 2016 it didn't get any changes! Shadow over Innistrad (many graveyard interaction) may be a worth a closer look or very nice synergies/graveyard interactions like Dusk // Dawn.
Dusk // Dawn maybe a good card in the sideboard card in this Primer against the most creature based Decks.
@patbou
Why not a general Ally Primer for all Variants ?
There is much you can learn from this list . It works with the Graveyard interaction and is a build around to Return to the Ranks.
If someone want to play this list, you must storngly looking for possible updates , because since 2016 it didn't get any changes! Shadow over Innistrad (many graveyard interaction) may be a worth a closer look or very nice synergies/graveyard interactions like Dusk // Dawn.
Dusk // Dawn maybe a good card in the sideboard card in this Primer against the most creature based Decks.
@patbou
Why not a general Ally Primer for all Variants ?
I really love what Lenzen did with his deck. He was focused on doing the best Ally Mill deck, and I'm pretty sure he has the best list for that. But I really don't want to be that focused on a single strategy (re : Leyline of Sanctity, Aegis of the Gods). I think what makes my brew so good is its versatility. Having two plans main deck confuses most opponents. If they only see Mill in game 1, they'll side in accordingly, and the odds are suddenly in your favor because they got the deck wrong anyway. Against creatures heavy deck, milling through blockers or infinite life is always good.
I've added more games to my results in the Primer. I've won against Burn, Ad Nauseum, Urza Tron, Ponza, Reanimator, Hollow One and the usual UW Control suspect. And lost only to a Soldier deck (1-2). He burned me with Foundry Champion (brought in with a Kithkin) while I had Ondu Cleric on the BF. But CoCo revealed only one Ally while I needed 2 to gain enough life and avoid defeat. With Evangel already on the BF and material in my hand to trigger protection from white, I was ready to go lethal and unblocked next turn.
I don't really mind making this thread a Primer for all Ally decks, but I think moderators will want me to take over the pinned thread if I do so. Problem is, it takes a lot of time to write a Primer. I'm not even done yet with this one, and the time it takes is borderline dangerous for my sanity and other responsibilities. I'll need help from the community to do so...
I have tried some modifications, but after just a few tests, I really don't like them :
Main : -4 Excavator, +4 Survivalist
SB : -2 Path, -2 Firmantle Mage, +4 Excavator
I played vs Blue Moon, a matchup I've never done before. I sided out the Survivalists for the Excavators, figuring I could mill him out of his Combo pieces. Game 3, he resolved Blood Moon while I had a forest and 3 other lands. Of course, I didn't have and didn't draw Vial, CoCo, Druid or Battlesinger. 5-6 turns later it was over (attacked by Vendilon Clique and another flyer).
I also played vs Lantern Control. I almost won game 1... He changed his deck a bit, in part because of me. He was down at 10, with Ensnaring Bridge, Witchbane Orb (to kill Excavator) and Pithing Needle naming Vial. I had 2 Druids, 3 Battlesingers/Shapeshifters, some useless Allies and Vial. Plan was to attack with the Druids as 0/1s, cast CoCo to get two Allies and trigger +6/+0 for the win. Of course, CoCo revealed nothing but lands. Niet. Nada. Opponent tutored Grafdigger's Cage next turn to lock me out of any possible win conditions.
Game 2, with Excavators back in the deck along with 2 Natural State, Ratchet Bomb and Pithing Needle... He milled me of a top deck Natural State on turn 2 or 3 with Codex. He curved out the whole package of Grafdigger’s Cage, Pithing Needle (Vial), Ensnaring Bridge and Witchbane Orb. Lantern was out with Codex to Control my draws. I had 3 Horizon Canopy and eventually tons of lands. My hope was to see Natural State or Ratchet Bomb on the top deck, and win the race vs Codex with my Canopy to draw the needed hate card. I had Druid and some other Allies for tons of mana, and I hoarded Excavators and Shapeshifters to mill him out in one turn if I could ever destroy the Orb (he had two Bridges at this point). Of course, I never saw the needed card, and he killed me after a very long game with this red enchantment that burns for 1 when tapping two artifacts.
Lessons learned : Deck needs Tuktuk Scrapper in the 75, at least 3. Also, I need a more reliable CoCo and main deck Excavator was the right thing. I'll thus remove the two Descendants' Path and 1 land for 3 Survivalist. With 33 creatures instead of 30, CoCo will reveal 0-1 Allies 6% of the time, instead of 10%. I'm tempted to remove 1 CoCo for Survivalist #4, to get to 34 creatures and 5% odds of CoCo fizzle. These odds are quite better (1 out of 20 CoCo will fizzle, instead of 1 in 10, that's twice as less). It would make sense to have less CoCo, as it is harder to cast on 19 lands anyway... But I'm not certain.
Other lesson learned : Survivalist is a good way of surviving Blood Moon, as it is one more spell to cast with that Forest.
How reliable do you feel Tuktuk will be? It's got a weak body and a high cmc but the effect is fairly powerful. Perhaps the damage and recursion ability will make up for it. I wonder if just usual instant/sorcery artifact removal would be better. Or if Reclamation Sage would be better as it can be grabbed of CoCo but then again it only hits one artifact.
I'm pretty sure that, from a Lantern Control perspective, Tuktuk Scrapper is better than Natural State or Reclamation Sage. Such games are really long, so 4cmc is no problem at all. Since Lantern Control doesn’t interact much (or at all) with our creatures, having one that repeatedly does an awesome job is really good. Also, siding out CoCo for Tuktuk in this matchup is the right thing to do, because of Grafdigger’s Cage.
Not having access to enchantment removal may be another problem, but I'm fairly confident that Blood Moon is not something we want to bother with, because of Vial and all the spells we can cast with R or G (fetching Forest) (Battlesinger, Survivalist, Druid and CoCo ; and the later two can put any Allies on the battlefield).
...
I've done my maths, and this deck really needs 20 lands. CoCo is not reliable on 19, and mulligans will happen far too often. I'm back with the original list, with Survivalist replacing Descendants' Path (for more reliable CoCo). I'm considering adding DePath to the SB, for the games expected to be really long. But there’s not much room for it...
Yes I suppose having the survivalist back in the list will help with the Blood Moons. And it's rough choosing between 19 and 20 lands. With Tuktuk in the side 20 lands is probably the better option. And yeah it seems really hard to make room for DePath. I want it to work because it's neat but the SB is already hard enough to make.
I’m considering Phantasmal Image instead of Survivalist. With Vial, CoCo, Druid and 9 blue sources, I think it can fit in the deck. Won’t help vs Blood Moon, but makes all combos more reliable. Opinion?
I had pondered that a little as well. My first major concern is having too many clone effects. If we can't stick creatures it is another dead draw. It would, however, provide more combo potential if You're able to find the other pieces. It is probably worthy of testing. Also keep in mind we can't use Cavern of souls or Ally encampment to cast the phantasmal image
Lost 1-2 to Grixis Shadow : Game 3, on the draw, I mulligan to 5 because no lands. On round 3, I had no board and no cards, because of discard spells or removals. Still, I wasn't dead because opponent flooded out. We both were on top deck mode, and I had two Vials to drop anything at instant speed. He was at 6 at some point, and I could attack for 5. But I didn't because he could go lethal with Temur Battle Rage. I was hoping on some lucky draw, but I top decked too many lands, and lost. It's the mulligan that killed me.
Lost 1-2 to Goblin : Game 3, mulligan to 5 (again). He bolted Freeblade on turn 1, then Druid on turn 2. With no board and Blood Moon next turn, I was dead even with Forest already in play. I had no Vial, Druid was dead, and all cards in my hand were white or blue.
Lost 0-2 to Eldrazi Tron : Game 1, plan to mill fizzled on turn 3. Two Excavators milled him for 4, but Emrakul entered the graveyard and all cards were shuffled back in the library. Ugin wiped the board next turn, and CoCo fizzled at the end of his turn (I need creatures to attack and kill the planeswalker). Game 2 was lost with a hand full of useless cards. Chalice on 1 and Chalice on two took care of 90% of my cards. I had two useless Freeblade, one Pithing Needle and 3 Shapeshifters in my hand. I was at the mercy of top decking something useful, hoping to clone it (I still had Vial). But Ballista at 4 took care of everything I tried to play.
Well, super bad luck tonigh. I can't win games when I mulligan to 5 on two games, and when CoCo fizzles the next one.
I'm tempted to drop the Excavator and Image package (6 cards) and go with 2 more Envoys, and some quantity of Bushwhacker and Survivalist. Concept would be to have more one drops to reduce the amount of mulligans and to play with Bushwhacker. I must also remember that Survivalist is green, and an easy cast vs Blood Moon...
100% agree to ThisIsKraben. Halimar Excavator is a card you can build a Deck around, but it is not a good addition as a alternative Win-Condition. In this Primer it was a lot "constructed" situation to win with the Mill Plan. A more liniear Plan is by far the better choice.
i think it is possible to build a transformation Sideboard. From Aggro to a Combo-Mill Deck to get a favor Matchup against most Matchups that is good against Aggro-Builds.
Talk about Matchups i come to the most disapointment situation. Control Matchups with a heavy load of Removal and Disruption. Even with Aggro or Combo-Mill Plan, our Allies are creature based Decks that must fight against the Removal. With Humans on the rise, most people will tune the Decks against this type of Aggro Decks. Tough Time for Allies.
And i don't know if you build a transformation Sideboard , if its viable, because we have with W the best Color for Sideboard Cards.
Ok, but i don't want to be a pessimist. Allies are a very underestimated Decktype and one of the stronger Decktypes. If you play a clean and linear Aggro Deck , the most Decks can't doing anything or by far not enough to stop the Allies.
In Asia there are good Players, too. Here some Decks, what i talk about: https://mtgdecks.net/Modern/allies
Look at the Names. That tell me 2 things. Ally Players are damn rare these days and the most important Part: You can constant in Top8 if you master your Deck. I know thats not much data, but the only we can work.
Phantasmal Image and Jwari Shapeshifter in the same Deck is a bit to much. There is always the danger, that the copy-target get a removal and you loose 2 creatures at once.
P.S.:
I write something about clean and linear aggro Deck. But i'm still brewing other ways around Allies. Here an example:
Sorry about the lack of update... Real life will be taking more of my MTG time in the near future.
I'm not fully convinced ditching the Excavator plan is the right way to go for the deck. With Lantern and Boggle on the rise in the Modern environment, having a win condition that doesn't rely on attacking opponent's life is not something we should dismiss too fast. We may have to, but for other reasons...
I think this list is pretty much the core of the deck :
Starting with the lands, I find it really hard to reduce the land count to less than 20 and maintain a reliable manabase, both for our color needs and to cast CoCo. The package of 4 fetchlands + 3 shocklands and 1 Forest is near impossible to get rid of. The basic Forest is needed to cast Druid vs Blood Moon (to make all the rest possible), and a lot of G is required for CoCo. Because 8 is not enough, 4 Horizon Canopy are also mandatory. And full playset of Cavern and Encampment are what makes the 4 colors a reality (and yes, Shapeshifter is worth it). I would like to have a Plains in the main deck, but it doesn’t seem possible.
To play less than 20 lands, we would have to get rid of CoCo. But because Allies are not disruptive like Humans are, they need Evangel to counter removals and relying on just Vial to flash in an Ally to trigger Evangel is pretty narrow. Doubling the instances of instant speed Allies is what CoCo does, and I dare not remove it and call this a deck.
The rest of the deck is pretty much what the concensus on Allies has always been, except for Shapeshifter and Druid. Doubling the number of Battlesingers or Blademasters with Shapeshifter is quite awesome, and no Ally deck should be played without this explosive potential IMHO. Druid is not always played as a 4 of, but I wouldn't play less. Adding 3+ mana to your mana pool starting on turn 3 is very powerful, on par with what Tron is doing (with Druid and Vial, you can play up to 9 cmc worth of creatures on turn 3, and up to 11 cmc if you add CoCo). I rarely have too much Druids anyway, because it soon become a prime target. Playing 3 wouldn't be enough, I'm sure of that (even more so because Druid, at least, can attack into Ensnaring Bridge).
As a side note, I've tried playing with only 2 Envoys, and it didn’t really worked. It's not the best Ally in the Gang, but it's a cheap one, and a much needed extra trigger/body when you want to go lethal.
That leaves only 4 flex spots in the main deck, either for the Excavator package or for a mix of Survivalist and Bushwhacker. I really don't think Cleric should go in the main deck, because all we want to do in game 1 is win it really fast. To that end, Survivalist and Bushwhacker seems like a better option than Excavator, particularly in an environment of Dredge, Delve, Flashback, Snapcaster Mage, Living End and Goryo's Vengeance. But is Excavator really worse in these matchups? Or are these decks already geared toward filling up their own graveyard anyway? Are we helping them by milling their deck? Or are they helping us milling them out by playing their main strategy?
I believe answering this question with accuracy is the key to making the call on these last 4 slots...
Edit : Another strategy to explore is adding Noble Hierarch to the deck, and maybe reduce the land count to 18 or 19 and Envoys to 2 or 3. The only Ally that Cavern of Souls can't cast by naming Human is Shapeshifter (and Bushwhacker, but we won't play it with Hierarch, right?), but then Hierarch can cast the Shapeshifter and the problem is self-solved. Hierarch would help accelerate to CoCo and to just explode with more Allies in general. It fixes all our needs vs Blood Moon, and dramatically reduces the numbers of mulligans. It is not an Ally itself to trigger Rally, but this is not a drawback on turn 1, and I guess Exalted will sometimes be useful. What about playing 4 Excavators in the flex spots, and 4 Hierarch instead of 2 Envoys and 2 lands? What 2 lands to cut? I guess 2 Encampment, because all the rest seems like a no-no. But that breaks my heart, because there are so many shenanigans Encampment can do (tap Druid for mana, bounce it back in your hand, play it again for Rally ; bounce the target of a removal and play it again the same turn with Vial ; etc.).
Hi everyone.
I used to play allies back in the day, and I was curious whether the unban of Bloodbraid elf has awaken some ideas. She was played along all our allies in extended and was pretty good in the deck. I know that times have changed, but there was something else that drew my interest about the topic, and that was the deck posted by Corbin Hosler in the Team Modern Super League:Deck Voting : https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/team-modern-super-league-deck-voting
It is currently first in the strawpollm although not by much.
What are your thoughts on the elf? Vote the poll if you want to see the deck in action!
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Decklist
2 Expedition Envoy
4 Hada Freeblade
4 Kazandu Blademaster
4 Harabaz Druid
4 Akoum Battlesinger
4 Halimar Excavator
4 Jwari Shapeshifter
4 Kabira Evangel
Spells (10)
4 Aether Vial
4 Collected Company
2 Descendants' Path
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ally Encampment
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Windswept Heath
1 Temple Garden
1 Breeding Pool
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Forest
2 Rest In Peace
2 Natural State
2 Path to Exile
2 Firemantle Mage
3 Ondu Cleric
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Pithing Needle
1 Stony Silence
1 Eerie Interlude
Results (17-3-0, last update 01/20/2018)
3-0 at LGS' Wednesday Night Magic, 01/17/2018
12-2 on XMage, 01/21/2018
2-1 at House Tournament, 01/21/2018
Creatures
Akoum Battlesinger is The Queen of Hearts : She's good by herself, and amazing in multiples. She's centerpiece to the Gang's aggressive Combos, and most games will be won with her on the battlefield.
Halimar Excavator is The King of Diamond : He's at best the Gang's alternate win condition, or at worst, an extra trigger to other Allies.
Jwari Shapeshifter is The Joker : Cloning effectively cheats to 8 the number of Battlesingers and Excavators in the deck. This makes the Combos a lot more reliable, and allows for explosive mill or combat damage later in the game.
Hada Freeblade, Kazandu Blademaster, Kabira Evangel and Expedition Envoy are The Aces of Clubs : Their mere presence is enough to add a crucial trigger to many Combos, but are otherwise already good on their own.
Spells
Collected Company provides both card advantage and instant speed Rally triggers. Like Vial, it is part of many of the Gang's Combos and explosive turns.
Descendants' Path is free mana and card advantage. Its trigger is as fast as Bob's (next upkeep). It's harder to remove and won't burn your like, but it costs one more mana and doesn't come with a 2/1 body. Scrying away Vial and lands starting T4 is just what the deck needs. It may sometimes remove CoCo from the top deck, but it's more likely to help you dig deeper and faster for the next CoCo (by dealing with any non-CoCo cards on the top deck). Unless you're really behind, this enchantment should win you the long game.
Mana Base
Ally Encampment is a great mana fixer, but also provides crazy card advantage. Most opponents don't know about the bounce trick. It's an effective way to fizzle removals, as well as giving you back an Ally to cast (or vial) to trigger Rally again. This can be used defensively, but learn to use it aggressively : you're one trigger short to win the game after top decking Envoy? Bounce it, recast and voilà!
Horizon Canopy fixes our color needs and can cycled if we flood out or get to the late game.
Windswept Heath, Temple Garden, Sacred Foundry, Breeding Pool and Forest fix the rest of the manabase. Focus on fetching the Forest first if you expect Blood Moon. You'll still be able to cast Aether Vial, Harabaz Druid, Collected Company and Descendant's Path, and opponent would basically have lost a turn.
Available mana sources, not considering whatever the Druid can produce :
T1 : 19W and for Envoy, Freeblade and Vial.
T2 : 19W, 13U, 13R and 19G for Blademaster, Excavator, Shapeshifter, Battlesinger and Druid.
T3-4 : 19W and 11G for Evangel, DePath and CoCo.
Combos
T1 Land + Expedition Envoy (or Hada Freeblade for +3 damage on T3).
T2 Land + Harabaz Druid + attack for 2.
T3 Land + with the help of Druid...
Pair & Ace : Two Akoum Battlesinger/Jwari Shapeshifter + any Ally, attack for 18 (total 20).
T1 Land + Aether Vial.
T2 Land + Harabaz Druid + Expedition Envoy or Hada Freeblade (EOT from Vial).
T3 Play a Pair of Halimar Excavator/Jwari Shapeshifter (one from Vial) + Collected Company (from Druid) and reveal...
Three Of A Kind & Ace : An Excavator/Shapeshifter + any Ally (mill 3 + 8 + 36 = 47), or...
Four Of A Kind : Two Excavators/Shapeshifters (mill 3 + 8 + 48 = 59).
T1 Land + Aether Vial.
T2 Land + Harabaz Druid + Hada Freeblade (EOT from Vial ; or Expedition Envoy for 2 less damage).
T3 Play a Pair of Akoum Battlesinger/Jwari Shapeshifter (one from Vial) + tap Druid for 4 to cast...
Pair & Ace : Any Ally**, attack for 20, or...
Three Of A Kind : A third Akoum Battlesinger/Jwari Shapeshifter, attack for 27, or...
Three Of A Kind & Ace : Collected Company* for any Ally** + Akoum Battlesinger/Jwari Shapeshifter, attack for 39, or...
Four Of A Kind : Collected Company* for another pair of Akoum Battlesinger/Jwari Shapeshifter, attack for 58.
* Lucky Boy variant : With 9 cards and two Allies of the right color, CoCo is not required.
** Sneaky Boy variant : Swap the random Ally for Kabira Evangel and attackers are unblockable.
Guide to Playing the Deck
Under construction
Matchups
Still under construction...
Skred Red : Side in Pithing Needle and Natural State. Fetch for Forest ASAP, and watchout for Blood Moon. Destroy it when you can, or bypass it with Vial, Druid, CoCo and Battlesinger. Needle should name Ratchet Bomb if you know opponent is playing it. Otherwise, name Koth of the Hammer to lock opponent out of his win condition.
Sideboarding and Alternate Card Choices
Under construction
Search tags : Modern Ally Allies Aether Vial CoCo Collected Company 4colors Aggro Combo
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.
Ive tinkered with Harabaz Druid and Halimar Excavator in the past, but the problem is that theyre 2cmc do nothing cards by themselves. Expedition Envoy is already annoying enough to have to play due to our lack of card quality in 1 drops, and filling the deck with 8 more creatures that dont impact the board by themselves is rough.
I dont think your build is bad per-say, i just think as a combo deck reliant on its explosivity its less competetive than a naya or 5color build with their higher creature quality and grinding power. I do however like the incorporation of CoCo, which gives the deck unexpected lategame gas. (though i personally prefer spell-less versions with 36+ creatures). Having solid sideboard castables is nice too, though i think a good sideboard can be accomplished even with a zigguraut mana base.
After 10 test games id say its probably better than scales or gw human hybrid builds, but i'll be sticking with my 5c 8whack build.
I only use Grafdigger's Cage against CoCo decks, but it is on my watch list. I'll of course side out my own CoCo if I bring it in. I believe we're better trying to beat Abzan CoCo denying theirs but without our own.
Rest In Peace is super good against any deck that features Snapcaster Mage or Torrential Gearhulk. Most of these also play spells with Delve, so RiP also kills Gurmag Angler, Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Logic Knot, etc. It is also the best SB card you can have against Dredge, and probably also against Storm.
The mill plan has already won me games I would otherwise have lost, and I don't recall ever wishing a top deck Halimar Excavator to be an Oran-Rief Survivalist instead. Milling 10+ cards is pure data to help your SB decisions, even if you win by combat and not by decking the opponent.
Where can we find your 5c 8whack build?
EDIT : Results update in the Primer.
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.
No problem. This thread is alive as long as people are posting in it.
The reasoning behind Halimar Excavator is this :
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.
Below is what im currently running to great success at my LGS. I havent fogured out if i want to call it 8whack or 12whack yet, haha. This build is also capable of a turn 3 win, but can goldfish turn 5 with multiple sources of disruption.
4 Aether Vial
Creature (38)
4 Kazandu Blademaster
4 Hada Freeblade
4 Oran-Rief Survivalist
4 Jwari Shapeshifter
4 Reckless Bushwhacker
4 Akoum Battlesinger
2 Bojuka Brigand / Firemantle Mage
4 Expedition Envoy
4 Kabira Evangel
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Unclaimed Territory
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ally Encampment
4 Ancient Ziggurat
2 Plains
To preface, ive been trying to make allies work in modern since before the printing of CoCo. Ive tried builds with both the excavator and the druid, and havent seen huge success with the exception of khans era scales CoCo, and recently with the printing of Unclaimed Territory and Ally Encampment finally allowing us to build 4 and 5 color decks. The issue in the past has always been a lack of access to redundancy, especially access to blue for the shapeshifter, due to stricter manabases. The combining of a Naya-esque build with supporting cards from blue and the brigand creates a best of both worlds deal that i think is the ideal environment for Aggro based allies to thrive.
My reasoning for disliking the druid and the excavator is that when you go up against any deck with early diusruption, you often have trouble "staying wide" with push, path, terminate etc. These are both creatures that by themselves have no attacking power, and only impact the boardstate if you already control 2-3 other allies. Cards like Oran-Rief and Reckless Bushwhacker create an immediate situation where you have a short or long term damage threat that must be dealt with. Basically, these cards pressure your opponents life total and can do so very early, whereas excavator and the druid pose no threat by themselves. Smart opponents will never throw removal or hand disruption at your excavator, because alone the card is useless. This leaves them free to concentrate on your game winning cards like Battlesinger and other damage dealers.
EDIT: I do think excavator is a valid option against certain matchups. Skred Red, 8rack, and Lantern Control become much easier. But I think overall the card loses some percentage points, and id either prefer it in the sideboard as a cheaply costed Tuktuk Scrapper substitute, or find a different way to exploit it. Maybe blink effects would be your friend here.
Harabaz Druid on the other hand could find a home in a CoCo/Hardened Scales setup with available mana sinks such as Mirror Entity, but in a lot of builds you dont have the card advantage to use the Druid to its full power. Maybe even some Sea Gate Loremaster cheese? Im unsure where this cards full potential lies.
Eerie Interlude is an interesting choice for the SB. Against sweepers (Supreme Verdict), I used Return to the Ranks. But it's a nonbo with Rest In Peace, a card that I often side in against UWx Control (because Snapcaster Mage and Delve cards). What I don't like about Eerie Interlude, is that it slows us down a lot once we have it in our hand. We keep mana open, just in case, and the last thing we want is to give time to the Control player... But I will try it, because it feels like the right card in that matchup.
The synergy between Agadeem Occultist and Halimar Excavator is very interesting. But to play 5 colors we would need Anciant Ziggurat and Unclaimed Territory, which would stop us from playing cards like Collected Company and Descendants' Path. Humans play a lot of interaction (Kitesail Freebooter, Meddling Mage, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Reflector Mage), a luxury Allies don't have. For that reason, I think Allies have to be more explosive and CoCo is part of that plan. Also, 3 mana is a lot to pay for an Ally that does nothing the turn it's played. It's cute when it can do it’s job, but it's far too slow compared to the huge swing Akoum Battlesinger provides to the Gang. For these reasons, I think we're better with 4 colors and CoCo, and red instead of black.
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'll update the Primer later today or tomorrow with these changes :
Sideboard :
-2 Grafdigger's Cage
-1 Return to the Ranks
+2 Natural State
+1 Eerie Interlude
SB vs Skred Red : Pithing Needle and name Ratchet Bomb or Koth of the Hammer, side in Natural State to deal with Blood Moon.
I'm considering swapping 1-2 Horizon Canopy for 1-2 Wooded Foothills in the main deck, to have more chances of getting my Forest vs Blood Moon. But then, maybe I just wasn't lucky vs Skred Red... what do you 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.
Another option would be to play some of the many white two drops that can be sac'd to destroy enchantments or artifacts, or do it as they enter.
If you really wanna get meta, Manamorphose is hilarious in the board if you can pull it off
EDIT: There are like 4+ decks that run blood moon in the board that are in the meta, as well as Sun/Moon and Skred Red in the main. Definitely worth adjusting your mana base to combat it
Yeah. I figured why Natural State should be an auto include in the SB.
Some more results (Primer updated) :
2-1 at House Tournament, 01/21/2018
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.
Allies
Jake Lenzen (not me)
1st Place at StarCityGames.com Invitational Qualifier on 4/17/2016
1 Ally Encampment
1 Breeding Pool
3 Cavern of Souls
4 Flooded Strand
1 Forest
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Sacred Foundry
2 Temple Garden
4 Windswept Heath
4 Return to the Ranks
4 Tracker's Instincts
4 Æther Vial
//Creatures
4 Hada Freeblade
4 Halimar Excavator
4 Harabaz Druid
3 Hedron Crab
3 Jwari Shapeshifter
4 Kazandu Blademaster
4 Ondu Cleric
3 Snapcaster Mage
3 Akoum Battlesinger
1 Dromoka's Command
2 Fracturing Gust
2 Ghostway
1 Kataki, War's Wage
2 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
2 Purify the Grave
2 Stony Silence
There is much you can learn from this list . It works with the Graveyard interaction and is a build around to Return to the Ranks.
If someone want to play this list, you must storngly looking for possible updates , because since 2016 it didn't get any changes! Shadow over Innistrad (many graveyard interaction) may be a worth a closer look or very nice synergies/graveyard interactions like Dusk // Dawn.
Dusk // Dawn maybe a good card in the sideboard card in this Primer against the most creature based Decks.
@patbou
Why not a general Ally Primer for all Variants ?
I really love what Lenzen did with his deck. He was focused on doing the best Ally Mill deck, and I'm pretty sure he has the best list for that. But I really don't want to be that focused on a single strategy (re : Leyline of Sanctity, Aegis of the Gods). I think what makes my brew so good is its versatility. Having two plans main deck confuses most opponents. If they only see Mill in game 1, they'll side in accordingly, and the odds are suddenly in your favor because they got the deck wrong anyway. Against creatures heavy deck, milling through blockers or infinite life is always good.
I've added more games to my results in the Primer. I've won against Burn, Ad Nauseum, Urza Tron, Ponza, Reanimator, Hollow One and the usual UW Control suspect. And lost only to a Soldier deck (1-2). He burned me with Foundry Champion (brought in with a Kithkin) while I had Ondu Cleric on the BF. But CoCo revealed only one Ally while I needed 2 to gain enough life and avoid defeat. With Evangel already on the BF and material in my hand to trigger protection from white, I was ready to go lethal and unblocked next turn.
I don't really mind making this thread a Primer for all Ally decks, but I think moderators will want me to take over the pinned thread if I do so. Problem is, it takes a lot of time to write a Primer. I'm not even done yet with this one, and the time it takes is borderline dangerous for my sanity and other responsibilities. I'll need help from the community to do so...
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.
Main : -4 Excavator, +4 Survivalist
SB : -2 Path, -2 Firmantle Mage, +4 Excavator
I played vs Blue Moon, a matchup I've never done before. I sided out the Survivalists for the Excavators, figuring I could mill him out of his Combo pieces. Game 3, he resolved Blood Moon while I had a forest and 3 other lands. Of course, I didn't have and didn't draw Vial, CoCo, Druid or Battlesinger. 5-6 turns later it was over (attacked by Vendilon Clique and another flyer).
I also played vs Lantern Control. I almost won game 1... He changed his deck a bit, in part because of me. He was down at 10, with Ensnaring Bridge, Witchbane Orb (to kill Excavator) and Pithing Needle naming Vial. I had 2 Druids, 3 Battlesingers/Shapeshifters, some useless Allies and Vial. Plan was to attack with the Druids as 0/1s, cast CoCo to get two Allies and trigger +6/+0 for the win. Of course, CoCo revealed nothing but lands. Niet. Nada. Opponent tutored Grafdigger's Cage next turn to lock me out of any possible win conditions.
Game 2, with Excavators back in the deck along with 2 Natural State, Ratchet Bomb and Pithing Needle... He milled me of a top deck Natural State on turn 2 or 3 with Codex. He curved out the whole package of Grafdigger’s Cage, Pithing Needle (Vial), Ensnaring Bridge and Witchbane Orb. Lantern was out with Codex to Control my draws. I had 3 Horizon Canopy and eventually tons of lands. My hope was to see Natural State or Ratchet Bomb on the top deck, and win the race vs Codex with my Canopy to draw the needed hate card. I had Druid and some other Allies for tons of mana, and I hoarded Excavators and Shapeshifters to mill him out in one turn if I could ever destroy the Orb (he had two Bridges at this point). Of course, I never saw the needed card, and he killed me after a very long game with this red enchantment that burns for 1 when tapping two artifacts.
Lessons learned : Deck needs Tuktuk Scrapper in the 75, at least 3. Also, I need a more reliable CoCo and main deck Excavator was the right thing. I'll thus remove the two Descendants' Path and 1 land for 3 Survivalist. With 33 creatures instead of 30, CoCo will reveal 0-1 Allies 6% of the time, instead of 10%. I'm tempted to remove 1 CoCo for Survivalist #4, to get to 34 creatures and 5% odds of CoCo fizzle. These odds are quite better (1 out of 20 CoCo will fizzle, instead of 1 in 10, that's twice as less). It would make sense to have less CoCo, as it is harder to cast on 19 lands anyway... But I'm not certain.
Other lesson learned : Survivalist is a good way of surviving Blood Moon, as it is one more spell to cast with that Forest.
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
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Not having access to enchantment removal may be another problem, but I'm fairly confident that Blood Moon is not something we want to bother with, because of Vial and all the spells we can cast with R or G (fetching Forest) (Battlesinger, Survivalist, Druid and CoCo ; and the later two can put any Allies on the battlefield).
...
I've done my maths, and this deck really needs 20 lands. CoCo is not reliable on 19, and mulligans will happen far too often. I'm back with the original list, with Survivalist replacing Descendants' Path (for more reliable CoCo). I'm considering adding DePath to the SB, for the games expected to be really long. But there’s not much room for it...
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.
Lost 1-2 to Grixis Shadow : Game 3, on the draw, I mulligan to 5 because no lands. On round 3, I had no board and no cards, because of discard spells or removals. Still, I wasn't dead because opponent flooded out. We both were on top deck mode, and I had two Vials to drop anything at instant speed. He was at 6 at some point, and I could attack for 5. But I didn't because he could go lethal with Temur Battle Rage. I was hoping on some lucky draw, but I top decked too many lands, and lost. It's the mulligan that killed me.
Lost 1-2 to Goblin : Game 3, mulligan to 5 (again). He bolted Freeblade on turn 1, then Druid on turn 2. With no board and Blood Moon next turn, I was dead even with Forest already in play. I had no Vial, Druid was dead, and all cards in my hand were white or blue.
Lost 0-2 to Eldrazi Tron : Game 1, plan to mill fizzled on turn 3. Two Excavators milled him for 4, but Emrakul entered the graveyard and all cards were shuffled back in the library. Ugin wiped the board next turn, and CoCo fizzled at the end of his turn (I need creatures to attack and kill the planeswalker). Game 2 was lost with a hand full of useless cards. Chalice on 1 and Chalice on two took care of 90% of my cards. I had two useless Freeblade, one Pithing Needle and 3 Shapeshifters in my hand. I was at the mercy of top decking something useful, hoping to clone it (I still had Vial). But Ballista at 4 took care of everything I tried to play.
Well, super bad luck tonigh. I can't win games when I mulligan to 5 on two games, and when CoCo fizzles the next one.
I'm tempted to drop the Excavator and Image package (6 cards) and go with 2 more Envoys, and some quantity of Bushwhacker and Survivalist. Concept would be to have more one drops to reduce the amount of mulligans and to play with Bushwhacker. I must also remember that Survivalist is green, and an easy cast vs Blood Moon...
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 think it is possible to build a transformation Sideboard. From Aggro to a Combo-Mill Deck to get a favor Matchup against most Matchups that is good against Aggro-Builds.
Talk about Matchups i come to the most disapointment situation. Control Matchups with a heavy load of Removal and Disruption. Even with Aggro or Combo-Mill Plan, our Allies are creature based Decks that must fight against the Removal. With Humans on the rise, most people will tune the Decks against this type of Aggro Decks. Tough Time for Allies.
And i don't know if you build a transformation Sideboard , if its viable, because we have with W the best Color for Sideboard Cards.
Ok, but i don't want to be a pessimist. Allies are a very underestimated Decktype and one of the stronger Decktypes. If you play a clean and linear Aggro Deck , the most Decks can't doing anything or by far not enough to stop the Allies.
In Asia there are good Players, too. Here some Decks, what i talk about: https://mtgdecks.net/Modern/allies
Look at the Names. That tell me 2 things. Ally Players are damn rare these days and the most important Part: You can constant in Top8 if you master your Deck. I know thats not much data, but the only we can work.
Phantasmal Image and Jwari Shapeshifter in the same Deck is a bit to much. There is always the danger, that the copy-target get a removal and you loose 2 creatures at once.
P.S.:
I write something about clean and linear aggro Deck. But i'm still brewing other ways around Allies. Here an example:
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
//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
1 Sram's Expertise
1 Veteran Warleader
1 Westvale Abbey
Secret Tech (still in working)
DeathCombo 1x
Allies Wide and hard
Worst Version:
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/against-the-odds-infinite-adaptation-modern
@patbou
Hope my comments are helpfull. We Allies must worked together
If you need help or new (stupid) ideas. I'm here to support any Ally Player.
I'm not fully convinced ditching the Excavator plan is the right way to go for the deck. With Lantern and Boggle on the rise in the Modern environment, having a win condition that doesn't rely on attacking opponent's life is not something we should dismiss too fast. We may have to, but for other reasons...
I think this list is pretty much the core of the deck :
4 Expedition Envoy
4 Hada Freeblade
4 Kazandu Blademaster
4 Harabaz Druid
4 Akoum Battlesinger
4 Jwari Shapeshifter
4 Kabira Evangel
4 Flex spots
Spells (8)
4 Aether Vial
4 Collected Company
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ally Encampment
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Windswept Heath
1 Temple Garden
1 Breeding Pool
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Forest
2 Rest In Peace
3 Tuktuk Scrapper
2 Path to Exile
2 Firemantle Mage
3 Ondu Cleric
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Pithing Needle
1 Stony Silence
Starting with the lands, I find it really hard to reduce the land count to less than 20 and maintain a reliable manabase, both for our color needs and to cast CoCo. The package of 4 fetchlands + 3 shocklands and 1 Forest is near impossible to get rid of. The basic Forest is needed to cast Druid vs Blood Moon (to make all the rest possible), and a lot of G is required for CoCo. Because 8 is not enough, 4 Horizon Canopy are also mandatory. And full playset of Cavern and Encampment are what makes the 4 colors a reality (and yes, Shapeshifter is worth it). I would like to have a Plains in the main deck, but it doesn’t seem possible.
To play less than 20 lands, we would have to get rid of CoCo. But because Allies are not disruptive like Humans are, they need Evangel to counter removals and relying on just Vial to flash in an Ally to trigger Evangel is pretty narrow. Doubling the instances of instant speed Allies is what CoCo does, and I dare not remove it and call this a deck.
The rest of the deck is pretty much what the concensus on Allies has always been, except for Shapeshifter and Druid. Doubling the number of Battlesingers or Blademasters with Shapeshifter is quite awesome, and no Ally deck should be played without this explosive potential IMHO. Druid is not always played as a 4 of, but I wouldn't play less. Adding 3+ mana to your mana pool starting on turn 3 is very powerful, on par with what Tron is doing (with Druid and Vial, you can play up to 9 cmc worth of creatures on turn 3, and up to 11 cmc if you add CoCo). I rarely have too much Druids anyway, because it soon become a prime target. Playing 3 wouldn't be enough, I'm sure of that (even more so because Druid, at least, can attack into Ensnaring Bridge).
As a side note, I've tried playing with only 2 Envoys, and it didn’t really worked. It's not the best Ally in the Gang, but it's a cheap one, and a much needed extra trigger/body when you want to go lethal.
That leaves only 4 flex spots in the main deck, either for the Excavator package or for a mix of Survivalist and Bushwhacker. I really don't think Cleric should go in the main deck, because all we want to do in game 1 is win it really fast. To that end, Survivalist and Bushwhacker seems like a better option than Excavator, particularly in an environment of Dredge, Delve, Flashback, Snapcaster Mage, Living End and Goryo's Vengeance. But is Excavator really worse in these matchups? Or are these decks already geared toward filling up their own graveyard anyway? Are we helping them by milling their deck? Or are they helping us milling them out by playing their main strategy?
I believe answering this question with accuracy is the key to making the call on these last 4 slots...
Edit : Another strategy to explore is adding Noble Hierarch to the deck, and maybe reduce the land count to 18 or 19 and Envoys to 2 or 3. The only Ally that Cavern of Souls can't cast by naming Human is Shapeshifter (and Bushwhacker, but we won't play it with Hierarch, right?), but then Hierarch can cast the Shapeshifter and the problem is self-solved. Hierarch would help accelerate to CoCo and to just explode with more Allies in general. It fixes all our needs vs Blood Moon, and dramatically reduces the numbers of mulligans. It is not an Ally itself to trigger Rally, but this is not a drawback on turn 1, and I guess Exalted will sometimes be useful. What about playing 4 Excavators in the flex spots, and 4 Hierarch instead of 2 Envoys and 2 lands? What 2 lands to cut? I guess 2 Encampment, because all the rest seems like a no-no. But that breaks my heart, because there are so many shenanigans Encampment can do (tap Druid for mana, bounce it back in your hand, play it again for Rally ; bounce the target of a removal and play it again the same turn with Vial ; 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.
I used to play allies back in the day, and I was curious whether the unban of Bloodbraid elf has awaken some ideas. She was played along all our allies in extended and was pretty good in the deck. I know that times have changed, but there was something else that drew my interest about the topic, and that was the deck posted by Corbin Hosler in the Team Modern Super League:Deck Voting : https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/team-modern-super-league-deck-voting
It is currently first in the strawpollm although not by much.
What are your thoughts on the elf? Vote the poll if you want to see the deck in action!