MTG Salvation

I love tribal decks or decks with theme. I play for fun and so does my play group. What does that mean? It means that we create decks to see if we can pull off something specific, whether it is a combination that can now be made due to a collection of cards with a specific ability from the span of the game's life, or just seeing whether there is enough stuff out there to make an Ally deck. We play with 30 life and no commander damage and try not to have infinite combos especially when it comes to taking an extra turn. We just want to play the game and have fun and see what our decks can pull off.

The whole purpose of this deck, if you have not guessed, is to use the commander to tutor for Zada and see what we can do with instants and sorceries. This is where I need you guys there are a lot of different cards that can affect Zada and the whole team, which are the best?

Here is a list of 27 instants, sorceries, and creatures with flash that could be in the deck and all have their positives and negatives. What should be tossed? What did I miss?





I am at 100 cards. Now, what changes can I make?

These are all cantrip cards that I know I do not have but can be very useful.
Aphotic Wisps
Cerulean Wisps
Crimson Wisps
Gallantry
Infuse
Lace with Moonglove
Refocus (Pretty sure I have this)
Refresh
Shadow Rift
Spiritualize
Tel-jilad Defiance

I'd add Allied Reinforcements

Quote from sperlman »

I'd add Allied Reinforcements

Thanks for the suggestion but Unified Front will net me 2-4 allies for the came casting cost. Although we are comparing 1/1 creatures to 2/2 creatures, the number of ally creatures entering the battlefield are more important due to the other triggered abilities on the battlefield.

I would cut Gaze of the Gorgon, Swift Justice, Conspiracy (you have so many Allies already), Artful Dodge and Temur Battle Rage. I'd also make room for Brago, King Eternal, Roon of the Hidden Realm or Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker.

Quote from Groovelord »

I would cut Gaze of the Gorgon, Swift Justice, Conspiracy (you have so many Allies already), Artful Dodge and Temur Battle Rage. I'd also make room for Brago, King Eternal, Roon of the Hidden Realm or Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker.

Thanks for the assistance a number of those have been taken out already.
Brago seems like a decent choice especially to coincide with Tazri and other allies. Roon doesn't work the way that I would want it to work and Kiki-Jiki has too much devotion to red to seem worth it. I would like to keep Conspiracy in there because it can combo nicely with the Turntimber Ranger and especially Mirror Match.

I do have a probably going to cut list. The colorless mana doesn't seem that needed in this deck and having specific land would be much better
Hedron Archive --> Expedition map? Sylvan Scrying?
Sol Ring --> Expedition map? Sylvan Scrying?
Drana's Emissary --> another Ally
LAntern Scout --> another Ally
I am also toying with the idea of removing the tri-colored lands and going for Maze's End and the gates for an extra win con.

I don't like Maze's End in this deck. It requires the dedication of so many resources and deck slots to work that it's not really an "extra" win condition, unless you're just hoping that every once in a while you'll end up winning off it by accident. It's not viable unless you take the deck in a totally different direction (centred around something like Scapeshift, The Great Aurora, Warp World or Primal Surge)

As for extra allies, I like Sea Gate Loremaster and maybe Malakir Soothsayer or Angelic Captain.

Quote from Groovelord »

I don't like Maze's End in this deck. It requires the dedication of so many resources and deck slots to work that it's not really an "extra" win condition, unless you're just hoping that every once in a while you'll end up winning off it by accident. It's not viable unless you take the deck in a totally different direction (centred around something like Scapeshift, The Great Aurora, Warp World or Primal Surge)

As for extra allies, I like Sea Gate Loremaster and maybe Malakir Soothsayer or Angelic Captain.

I see what you mean. My deal is that if I have lands coming in to play tapped, which I hate, I would rather it contribute to an accidental win con. Sea Gate Loremaster is in my deck. I am not planning to add in any cohort cards because it involves tapping creatures and I was planning to making this more of an attacking deck but that could change. I have not gotten my OGW cards yet too. Angelic Captain made my cut list because its power only really benefits himself instead of all the other allies, which is not enough to take Lantern scout out of my deck.

I suggest cards that cantrip when you target Zada, other Arcane spells, Sunforger.

Look at the Zada thread for more ideas, you could use some of them.

Quote from HardCasting »

I suggest cards that cantrip when you target Zada, other Arcane spells, Sunforger.

Look at the Zada thread for more ideas, you could use some of them.

I debated so much about using Sunforger. My problem is that I tried to make this an attack deck and I found that I needed the blue cantrips that would untap my creatures, give flying, or make unblockable more than the ones that gave haste or first strike. I definitely want to look over this combo again once I have play tested it more compared to my fish bowling.

Thanks!

Leap and Slip through Space are good cheap cantrips that can replace some of the more expensive ones you have.

Some of the cards you've posted don't actually work with Zada--Carom and Tail Slash both don't work with Zada because they have multiple targets, and Zada needs the spells that target her to have *only* one target.

Quote from Admiral Sultan »

Leap and Slip through Space are good cheap cantrips that can replace some of the more expensive ones you have.

Some of the cards you've posted don't actually work with Zada--Carom and Tail Slash both don't work with Zada because they have multiple targets, and Zada needs the spells that target her to have *only* one target.

Is it because they have you target one creature (Zada) and then target another creature? I thought that as long as Zada is the first target of the spell it would work because the second part was contingent on the first target being successful.

But maybe learning to read the rulings would help.

8/25/2015 The ability triggers whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell that targets only Zada and no other object or player.
8/25/2015 If you cast an instant or sorcery spell that has multiple targets, but it’s targeting only Zada with all of them, Zada’s ability will trigger. The copies will similarly each be targeting only one of your other creatures. You can’t change any of the copy’s targets to other creatures.

First of all, a quick note, as it looks like you're missing a couple useful Allies: Munda, Ambush Leader, Mina and Denn, Wildborn, and Munda's Vanguard (maybe) could probably replace some combination of Kor Bladewhirl, Makindi Patrol, Ondu Champion, and/or Coralhelm Guide.

If you're using Tazri as your commander but actually building around Zada's ability to buff your team, you have some pretty unique opportunities; not only do you have access to a whole bunch of spells that Zada decks can't play because they're not mono-red, you can also make use of Zada's predecessor -- Ink-Treader Nephilim! Yes, it breaks your tribal unity, but it also doubles your access to the Radiate effect (which, by the way, you could also play).

Also: clone spells! You already have Cackling Counterpart and Rite of Replication, but any single-target instant/sorcery that copies creatures does twice as much work as usual here, since it both gives you additional Ally ETB triggers and can be refracted with Zada/Ink-Treader -- so I'd recommend playing as many such effects as possible. Fated Infatuation, Heat Shimmer, Spitting Image, Stolen Identity, Tempt with Reflections, and Twinflame are all options here. Supplant Form gets special mention when used alongside Ink-Treader -- because the Nephilim targets everyone's creatures (not just your own), Supplant Form basically becomes Insurrection.

Actually I should really just stop here and suggest that you look up other people's attempts to build around Ink-Treader (for those who allow the Nephilim as honorary generals), which will be full of weird and fantastic tech for a deck focused on Zada whether or not you actually include Ink-Treader -- stuff like Wild Defiance or even Fiery Gambit (yes, it technically targets only a single creature) that hardly get played anywhere else but become absurdly good in this situation.

Looking at the SOI previews and only noticed a few cards that could be considered for a Tazri/Zada deck...

Essence Flux allows for flickering for a single U
Survive the Night is probably my favorite of the new set, it can protect against damage and even a wrath effect. Plus as it is, it is not quite a cantrip card but it can leave around a whole lot of clues to be used later.

Altered Ego is the only creature from SOI that could work well in an Ally deck as it is a clone with a built in pump upon casting.

As your deck focuses Zada that much I'd add some cards with that you can get her back from graveyard live Reclaim.