I was working on my other Allies deck (Mardu Allies - Bombastic Life Bros) and I noticed the strong correlation of Lifegain and Allies in BFZ, so I started working on a build focused around that very mechanic. It certainly seems serviceable, and this build can be had for well under $20!

The main gimmick here is to use lifegain to trigger Serene Steward, Bloodbond Vampire's, and (occasionally) Defiant Bloodlord's +1/+1 counter generation. Drana's Emissary, Kalastria Healer, Stone Haven Medic, and Zulaport Cutthroat form the main engines for those, as well as some combat tricks (Pharika's Cure and Tandem Tactics) and the enchantments (Retreat to Hagra and Vampiric Rites).

In terms of combat damage, Bloodbond Vampire will (hopefully) be doing most of the heavy lifting, though Drana's Emissary's flight ability can help with that as well, as can some of the combat tricks.

I'm considering swapping some (or possibly all) of the Bloodbond Vampire for Ajani's Pridemate's: same core mechanic with a lower CMC, however it comes in more fragile and doesn't trigger the Kalastria Healer's ability as it's not an Ally, so I'd have to rebalance my healers as well. This may sound silly, but while this isn't a tribal deck, I do like the idea of having a lot of vampires as it works well with this deck's name. :)

I'm also considering adding a Sanguine Bond or a Well of Lost Dreams, as either would synergize well with the core lifegain mechanic and still be relatively inexpensive to acquire, however both have high CMC and so I don't know if it'd be worth using a card slot for something that's hard to fire.

March from the Tomb?

Aside from the Pharika's Cure, this deck would be standard legal if you care about that type of thing. Technically it's got a much higher chance against standard decks than modern decks.

I would suggest Retreat to Emeria. That card's absurdly good. It gives you an army of tokens, or pumps your team for a lethal swing.

09ALPHAROGUE - March from the Tomb is a really good card and I'll definitely consider it; I've got a couple of more cards I want to order once I playtest this some more and one or two of those would definitely be a boon. :)

Killkow - I'm not too concerned with building this deck to be Standard legal as it's something I'm building on the cheap for casual play. I'm thinking about putting in a few more cards that aren't quite Standard-legal either. That said, I agree with your suggestion re: Retreat to Emeria; I'm adjusting the creature loadout to be all-allies and the added Rally triggers will be a boon, as could the combat buff if the timing is right. Thanks!

Ive been working on a similar deck.. exquisite blood and vampire nighthawks work great in this style.. ive been considering alhammarret's archive too. Oh and you cant forget blood tribute!! Hope this helps

dmnhntr425 - Great suggestion! I love Vampire Nighthawks and it didn't occur to me initially just how well they'd work here. I think I might trade out a couple of Drana's Emissarys for them. As for Exquisite Blood, I can see it working great in this deck but I'm afraid at $5+ per card, it's well out of my budget for this deck. That said, I'm amused by the possibility of it and Sanguine Bond creating an infinite loop. :)

I will be playing Your deck tonight.I've took away Banishing Light because it was too expensive (over 1 Euro) and replaced it with Doom Blade. Also, I've added one extra Retreat to Hagra and Death Grasp (only had one, but this car fits here super.