I run a similar deck, but I don't play ayli, bladewhorl, Stone haven, or cliffhaven. I tested a few but they just are too weak or don't fit.

I have:4 healers, 4 cutthroats, 4 envoy, 4 serene steward, 3 Drana, 2 Drana Emissary

Also2 oath of Gideon, 2 Gideon, 2 sorin, 2 ruinous path, 2 utter end, 2 captain's claws, 3 March from tomb

I finished 2nd and 3rd last game day, and average 2nd place at every FNM since then.

Wilysnake, hey you asked for my advice about your deck. Here are my suggestions.

First, I created a sample deck for you to test out Ally Retreat Masterwork. Here is the decklist:

• 4x Kalastria Healer
• 4x Zulaport Cutthroat
• 3x Serene Steward
• 2x Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
• 3x Drana's Emissary
• 2x Drana, Liberator of Malakir
• 2x Cliffhaven Vampire

• 4x Oath of Gideon
• 3x Retreat to Emeria

• 3x Grasp of Darkness or 3x Silkwrap
• 2x Ruinous Path or 2x Stasis Snare

• 4x Stoneforge Masterwork

• 5x Plains
• 5x Swamp
• 4x Caves of Koilos
• 4x Evolving Wilds
• 4x Shambling Vent
• 2x Blighted Steppe

You are on the right track with your current creature base, but the numbers on some of your creatures are off. Your whole strategy really revolves around both Kalastria Healer and Zulaport Cutthroat because of this they should be 4 ofs.

Healer is the driving force behind all this deck's synergies. I have added some additional synergies with Oath of Gideon and Retreat to Emeria to make him more powerful. Oath gives you two Allies when it enters the battlefield this triggers Healer twice which gives you two lifegain triggers that work so well with the other cards in your deck. Retreat can be a constant source of Allies and pump effects for your creatures. All it requires you to do is play a land to get these benefits.

To make room for the additions of Oath and Retreat I have cut Stone Haven Outfitter and Kor Bladewhirl. Outfitter and Bladewhirl are fine cards, but just don't have enough synergies with the other Allies in the deck to make the cut. Outfitter is better in a Red White Allies deck with Weapons Trainer and a pure equipment strategy with a lot of equipment. All Bladewhirl is doing in this deck is being an Ally body and giving creatures first strike which is really not needed.

I have added Serene Steward because she works very well with your strategy of gaining life. She is especially good with Drana's Emissary. Putting a +1/+1 counter on Emissary or another creature you have each turn for one mana.

Both Oath of Gideon and Retreat to Emeria are very good with Stoneforge Masterwork because both make Ally tokens which adds to Masterwork's ability. I have chosen to cut Captain's Claws for this very reason. Oath and Retreat can make tokens for you, Retreat can make them each turn as long as you play a land. Claws is not needed for this reason. I don't like that you have to attack to get the benefits of Claws.

For your removal package I have gone with 3x Grasp of Darkness and 2x Ruinous Path. Both these can be replaced with Silkwrap and Stasis Snare. I like that both Grasp and Path kill creatures for good.

I have changed your manabase some. I added Evolving Wilds, replacing Ally Encampment to give you two triggers with Retreat to Emeria on the battlefield. I cut Encampment because the removal package calls for double black for each spell. I have also added Blighted Steppe. Steppe can be a huge blowout and a win condition with Cliffhaven Vampire on the battlefield as well as just a great way to gain a ton of life.

I have also included a sideboard in the version. If you have any questions about it ask away.

Masterwork is a good card, but doesn't really fit the strategy. Big creatures are bigger targets. Spread the power and use as much rally triggers as possible. I think captain's claws is better. Also, adding some planeswalkers to go with oath of Gideon. Retreat is too slow in my opinion. For 3 mana a solid creature is better than one 1/1 per turn.

Zorynjaibro, you're right adding some Planeswalkers would be better than a lot of other cards in the list, that's for sure. The problem is Planeswalkers are not budget, especially the best one with Allies, Gideon. Neither is Drana, but he clearly already has 3x Drana. Your B/W Allies deck seems really solid, and it's great that you are winning with it, but it isn't budget. For him to adapt his deck into your deck he would have to spend well over $100. That's cool if he wants to do that, but I'm under the impression that he doesn't.

Zorynjaibro, multimedia, The only planeswalker i could buy once i have enough money is Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. I'm trying not to have a lot of cards that would rotate once the new set comes out on April (Shadows Over Innistrad) and/or July (Eldritch Moon). I'm new in the MTG game. I'm trying to learn as much as i can with all the suggestions and help i can get. It's really cool that this community is very friendly and always wanting to help you to build your deck the best possible. Like i say, i've been recieving really good suggestions, but sometimes i find myself in the dilemma on which direction go with my deck. Well, i've just order 4 Oath of Gideon. Maybe in a week or two i was thinking to order 3 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. Last week i was considering Sorin, but he's about to rotate. I want the focus of my deck to be aggresive, agile, fast dealing damage (with every turn deal more damage than the previous turn), desperate and thirsty to drain and gain life with the purpose to beat the opponent as soon as possible in a way that if they blink, they will miss the action...

Wilysnake, sounds good. If you're willing to spend to get Gideons then that's great. He is the best addition you can add to your deck. If you want to be fast check out Zorynjaibro B/W Allies deck for some ideas, he has included Expedition Envoy as a great 2/1 one drop Ally. His deck is geared more toward the aggro side while the version I created for you is gear toward midrange with more set-up, but bigger payoffs in the mid to late game. Good luck with your deck.

multimedia, Zorynjaibro I liked both ideas, maybe a combination of both?

You could try, but focused decks tend to be more successful in my opinion.

Aggro is big in my meta, I crush control and other aggros because of the life gain.

So, what will be a good replacement for those cards that rotate when the next sets comes out?

None of the cards I see in your list will rotate (in the next April rotation), unless I missed one.

Hey, great ideas here! I've been working on something similar on my own. Rather than running through everything here, please just see my deck: BW Vampiric Allies. I've put a lot of work into documenting my thoughts, in hopes that they would spark thoughtful conversation and bring us all to better results.

My notes also explain why I think that my list might be more competitive than what you have here. So for example, I'm not hesitant about putting in more expensive cards where I think they might be preferred.

Good luck! Can't wait to hear what you think!

I like the mix. Cut Drana's Emissary for Stoneforge Acolyte and drop Stoneforge Master Work for more Captains Claws. Cliffhaven Vampire is amazing in this deck too. Grasp of Darkness is not. Something tells me Silk wrap is the champion removal spell right now I might play 2-3 main or mix 2 silk 1 stasis. you don't need hand disruption or ruinous path you can beat a ramp deck.

Tap 2 allies to do no damage and leave an opening to be attacked, no, Stoneforge Acolyte is a hindrance to this deck. Drana's Emissary is great. She flies over enemies, and opponents underestimate her utility so they hate to waste removal on her. Wasting too much mana on equipment means less to play creatures to equip, or at least, mid to late board development.

Trust me, this deck works much better aggro. The creatures even with equipment don't compare to what other decks will have on T5 and later.

Stoneforge Acolyte helps you go for your main win factor, Captain's Claws...

A. You tap them EOT of your opponents 2nd turn. It's an odd number to maximize March from the Tomb that this deck is lacking.

B. Drana's Emissary is super easy to kill. I would rather play Oath of Gideon, Drana Liberator or play and equip Claws.

Captain's Claws is good early game, but a win factor? Honestly I haven't been able to test it out, but I see it as more of a support card.

I think Expedition Envoy is a better one drop than Stoneforge Acolyte. What if you get your claws in the opening hand, or they're not in the top 4 cards?(Both are pretty likely) Then Acolyte becomes a total waste.

I'm just saying the quicker you deal damage the better. A T3 kor ally is ok, but not a game changer. An Expedition Envoy with claws is more damage, but I can think of way more opening sequences that are better.

I personally relentlessly dig for more claws.

Zorynjaibro you might not be aware of how well Stoneforge Masterwork and Captain's Claws combo together.

Yes, your early attacks won't be as good.

Late game, with both equipped, things start to get out of control.

As soon as you attack with both equipped you get an extra 1/1 attacker on the field and you also get an extra +1/+1 from your Stoneforge Masterwork.

Granted, I'm not sure that Stoneforge Acolyte works in this deck. It's probably not equipment heavy enough for it.

I would add at least one more copy of Captain's Claws, though.

I'm aware of how they work together, but as I stated before, this deck will get crushed in the late game by Anafenzas, Rhinos, Hangarbacks, and Ulamogs.

You can't slow play a weenie deck. People play Languish, Crux of Fate, and Flaying Tendrils. Not to mention Radiant Flames.

You have to go aggro and use the rally triggers. Pumping your creatures with Drana or Serene Steward is really the only way to do it without slowing down too much.

I think Multimedia is on the right track here. I think Captain's Claws work better than Stoneforge Masterwork because of the ally token creation. Drana, Liberator of Malakir isn't strictly necessary to this deck because you're winning with Drain and not attacking.

It's not an ally, but Eldrazi Displacer might be a fun card to add. At the end of their turn, displace a Zulaport Cutthroat and bring it back, which triggers Kalastria Healer, which triggers Cliffhaven Vampire and Serene Steward.

I have several questions... if my opponent send one of my creatures to exile, does it count like it is dead??? I mean, because of Zulaport Cutthroat Rally ability.

Does any creature i return from graveyard or exile to the battlefield have summoning sickness???

About Shambling Vent, when i pay the cost and it becomes a 2/3 black and white elemental creature with lifelink until end of turn. Does it have summoning sickness??? If it does, the lifelink until end of turn would be useless...can i still use it as a land? if my opponent destroy it, does it go back to be a land or goes to the graveyard?

About Ruinous Path it's Awaken 4 ability, it's cost is , do i need an extra land (8th land) to target it to become a creature? Or can i use one of the lands i used to pay the cost for the ability? When it becomes a creature, does it have summoning sickness?

Wilysnake If you exile a creature, it doesn't die so Zulaport Cutthroat won't trigger. (Cutthroat also doesn't have a rally ability)

A permanent has summoning sickness unless you have controlled it since the beginning of your most recent turn (the untap step). Creatures you return from the graveyard or from exile have summoning sickness.

Shambling Vent is the same card that you had previously controlled when you animate it. The first turn you play it (i.e. the turn it comes in tapped) it will have summoning sickness. If you had some way to uptap it, it still would not be able to attack that turn. However, on subsequent turns, it is able to attack when you animate it.

For awaken, you can target any land you control, even one you used to pay the cost. The only thing is that if you animate a land you tapped for the mana cost, that land is tapped so you can't attack with it. The land will have summoning sickness if it was the land you played this turn. However, awaken gives the land-creature haste so this doesn't matter.

Well, guys! I'm about to get 3 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, 2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor, 1 Ob Nixilis Reignited, 2 Utter End, and 4 Oath of Gideon.

Rally the Ancestors and March from the Tomb seem really nice.

Also Bloodbond Vampire seems like a good card in lifegain.

Good choices for your deck. The planeswalkers make the deck much more competitive.

Utter End is the only real removal you need with this deck. Too bad it's rotating out along with Sorin in a few months.

What i like the most about Utter End is that is an instant