With a functional 20 Lands that tap painless for any color for Ally after the printing of Unclaimed Territory, the forever at odds R/B and G/W Allies decks can come together to form a very fast, very powerful Aggro deck with no color restriction and a distaste for Blood Moon.
Here is a basic 18 Land Aggro Shell I've thrown together and seen a lot of success with on online mediums over the past 2 and a half weeks. I havent sleeved it up yet for the sole reason that Cavern of Souls is pricey and i don't own any.
EDIT: I now own this in paper and have sleeved it up for consistent 4-0 and 3-1 finishes at my LGS over the past month.
This deck powers out a consistent and resilient creature base with a good grind that can also boast powerful alpha strikes that pay homage to goblin 8whack decks with Akoum Battlesinger, and Reckless Bushwhacker (and even a little redundancy thanks to Jwari Shapeshifter) alongside the 20 1cmc enablers. Technically this deck is also capable of breaking the turn 4 rule, though thats in a perfect world.
Good matchups against other aggro decks and speed surpassing that of even Zoo, Humans, and Affinity. Resilient to counter-magic and can come back from early disrupting. Mass evasion with Kabira Evangel and Firemantle Mage brings an ability to push through damage that most other aggro decks cant match. Most attractive aspect of this deck is definitely its consistency. Almost any 2 lander is keep-able.
Drawbacks include a lack of colored spells in the sideboard, and no dedicated mainboard removal. Creature quality also takes a hit (thanks for printing ***** playables in BFZ and OGW Wizards.) as we're forced to run less than perfect creatures such as Bojuka Brigand and Expedition Envoy to compliment and enable our threats.
I swear, R&D used up all the creature quality Allies were alloted in one go with Kazandu Blademaster.
Sideboards are meta dependant, so ive decided not to include mine. Here are some decks to be prepared for if your meta has them:
- Ensnaring Bridge Based Prison Decks (Skred, Lantern, Whir Prison, Etc. Bring hate. Pull the manabase into white if your meta is really overrun with these.)
- Sweeper Heavy Control (Some UW Builds Postboard, Esper. Selfless Spirit or similar helps these matchups)
- Phoenix (Light Hate, General Taxing such as Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Damping Sphere are strong. We are faster and they cant race Ondu Cleric. I feel this is a favored matchup for Allies, I only touch on it due to its popularity.)
- Fast Combo (Generic Hosers, Pithing Needle, etc)
- BGx (Pack more redundancy or maindeck Lead the Stampede with Heaths/Gardens if BGx is popular where you're playing.)
I think the potential is there. Some rough matchups definitely exist, but the pure speed and consistency is incredible.
What are your thoughts?
My roommate ran a similar list before Unclaimed Territory was a thing, and had a decent success rate with it. He didn't have vial and only two CoCos. Have you tried CoCo? Definitely interested to see how this works you.
@ashtangijimmy
If I had continued down the Reflecting Pool route, i might have spent more time testing CoCo, but i found just jamming 38 creatures to be more consistent.
Absolutely, its the best turn 1 play the deck can lay down.
They offer lots of tricks, messing with combat math and allowing you to do some sneaky saves with Kabira Evangel.
They can even act as a Reckless Bushwhacker Enabler in a pinch if youre tight on the curve
Here are the lands in Question that make this possible:
Ally Encampment
Cavern of Souls
Unclaimed Territory
Ancient Ziggurat
Reflecting Pool
Here is a basic 18 Land Aggro Shell I've thrown together and seen a lot of success with on online mediums over the past 2 and a half weeks. I havent sleeved it up yet for the sole reason that Cavern of Souls is pricey and i don't own any.
EDIT: I now own this in paper and have sleeved it up for consistent 4-0 and 3-1 finishes at my LGS over the past month.
This deck powers out a consistent and resilient creature base with a good grind that can also boast powerful alpha strikes that pay homage to goblin 8whack decks with Akoum Battlesinger, and Reckless Bushwhacker (and even a little redundancy thanks to Jwari Shapeshifter) alongside the 20 1cmc enablers. Technically this deck is also capable of breaking the turn 4 rule, though thats in a perfect world.
Good matchups against other aggro decks and speed surpassing that of even Zoo, Humans, and Affinity. Resilient to counter-magic and can come back from early disrupting. Mass evasion with Kabira Evangel and Firemantle Mage brings an ability to push through damage that most other aggro decks cant match. Most attractive aspect of this deck is definitely its consistency. Almost any 2 lander is keep-able.
Drawbacks include a lack of colored spells in the sideboard, and no dedicated mainboard removal. Creature quality also takes a hit (thanks for printing ***** playables in BFZ and OGW Wizards.) as we're forced to run less than perfect creatures such as Bojuka Brigand and Expedition Envoy to compliment and enable our threats.
I swear, R&D used up all the creature quality Allies were alloted in one go with Kazandu Blademaster.
Original List:
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
EDIT:
This is what i'm currently playing with as of 4/1/2019. I've had nothing but good games and solid showings from it at local events.
4 Aether Vial
Creature (33)
4 Kazandu Blademaster
4 Hada Freeblade
4 Oran-Rief Survivalist
4 Jwari Shapeshifter
2 Reckless Bushwhacker
4 Akoum Battlesinger
4 Kabira Evangel
4 Champion of the Parish
3 Ondu Cleric
1 Drana, Liberator of Malakir
3 Dismember
Land (19)
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ally Encampment
4 Ancient Ziggurat
3 Unclaimed Territory
2 Horizon Canopy
2 Plains
Sideboards are meta dependant, so ive decided not to include mine. Here are some decks to be prepared for if your meta has them:
- Ensnaring Bridge Based Prison Decks (Skred, Lantern, Whir Prison, Etc. Bring hate. Pull the manabase into white if your meta is really overrun with these.)
- Sweeper Heavy Control (Some UW Builds Postboard, Esper. Selfless Spirit or similar helps these matchups)
- Phoenix (Light Hate, General Taxing such as Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Damping Sphere are strong. We are faster and they cant race Ondu Cleric. I feel this is a favored matchup for Allies, I only touch on it due to its popularity.)
- Fast Combo (Generic Hosers, Pithing Needle, etc)
- BGx (Pack more redundancy or maindeck Lead the Stampede with Heaths/Gardens if BGx is popular where you're playing.)
I think the potential is there. Some rough matchups definitely exist, but the pure speed and consistency is incredible.
What are your thoughts?
If I had continued down the Reflecting Pool route, i might have spent more time testing CoCo, but i found just jamming 38 creatures to be more consistent.
They offer lots of tricks, messing with combat math and allowing you to do some sneaky saves with Kabira Evangel.
They can even act as a Reckless Bushwhacker Enabler in a pinch if youre tight on the curve