dear allies playersNefTheDuggernaughtJLenzenaubman02Johanson69Rinne

can you please give me some feedback on this deck which I made recently? Every advice, suggestion or criticism is welcome! Dont forget +1 if you like this deck.

You have 8 targets for Tezzeret's Gambit, I'd cut it completely in this deck. Kor Bladewhirl doesn't do much, especially if you have multiple of these. As for stronger Allies, I'd probably go for Taurean Mauler and Firemantle Mage to replace Ondu Cleric and Kor Bladewhirl (which would drive up the average CMC... maybe not too good). Consider Gideon and AEther Vial. Mentor of the Meek as a 2-3 of certainly wouldn't be bad as well. Not really sure where to make the cuts, you'd also probably need 1 or 2 more lands if your curve got more into the CMC 3 area.

I am not sure I like Kor Bladewhirl in here since there are not many things that really benefit from first strike in this list that do not already have it. I also think 4 Legion's Initiative might also be a little overkill. I do love the card though. I think I would cut the bladewhirls, 1 initiative, and either an Ondu Cleric or a Kabira Evangel for a land, a Talus Paladin, a Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, 2 Firemantle Mages and maybe 2 Lightning Bolts.

Thanks guys for comments. I replaced Tezzeret's Gambit for Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. How could I forget on him? For next changes I have to do some play testing. I am considering Talus Paladin Mentor of the Meek Taurean Mauler

To start off, I'll give a plus one because you are thinking outside of the box. It's definitely inspiring :-)

I think you can get away with some more lands because when looking at your list I feel you can afford winning on turn 5 or 6 consistently rather than 3 or 4, even though you will still have that potential. The reason I say this is because I find that in my deck, it's really hard to get those non-creature spells out, especially if they are a two drop. I think this can be solved with extra man. The dude who did well in Italy and in Oklahoma ended up running some extra land too. But maybe you don't need too....becauuuuuseeeee....

I'm thinking this deck could be a 3-4 turn kill consistently, but I think the problem at this point is that you have too many Ondu Clerics, and maybe need to move the Return to the Ranks to the sideboard. The Ondu Cleric tends to sit there is you have too many, so I would consider cutting him down to one and then adding 4 Expedition Envoys. This would get crazy fast with Akoum Battlesinger since you would then have 8 one drops. This is so important because in order to get that turn 3 win in my deck, I would have either a turn 1 aether vial or a turn one one drop with two turn two one drops to get the kill with battle singer. It's not exactly like that, but the one drops play a big part with the triggers. With that said, the Firemantle Mage is really important in your deck, because you want your creatures to get in for damage every time. I think it would be worth looking into replacing a couple of Kor Bladewhirls with Firemantle Mage.

Lastly, and man, I'm kinda excited about this because I just realized how good the synergy is here, but I think Retreat to Emeria has good potential here. The downside is you have to have another land in hand, so maybe not.

Anywho, I hope some of my brainstorming has helped you here. Have a good one!

Also, I think Legion's Initiative is fantastic in this deck. It really helps against the control match up and gives the allies that don't grow in your deck so much more umph. I really think this deck has the potential to compete with the other tier 1 decks. Good job again ehuez!

aubman02 thanks for your comment! As you suggested I added 4x AEther Vial and 4x Expedition Envoy to speed it up. But I am not sure about the Expedition Envoy because I will probably miss the amount of HP which generates Ondu Cleric in longer games. I have to play test more to make sure which one of them is better.

BTW: THIS DECK IS THE MOST SUCCESSFUL ALLIES DECK WHICH I MADE SO FAR! Its even better than selesnya or abzan decks!

I tested this deck a little bit more and I am forced to put back Ondu Cleric instead of Expedition Envoy because as I thought I really need HP which he generates.

If you ever figure out what to cut to fit Gideon, Ally of Zendikar let me know for my deck: Allied Boros Legion

Though, I think if we run a deck that can run Tuktuk Scrapper we are required to run it in the sideboard.

Am I missing your Instant speed sweeper protection?

Dear keevel,

I do not play protection against sweepers, because I have Browbeat and Return to the Ranks, which help me rebuild board position again. In this type of deck you can not hold 2 mana for Boros Charm unused, you must play as fast as possible.

I would not recommend playing Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and Tuktuk Scrapper. These cards are very slow. My deck is able to win in 3rd turn so these cards are useless.

Against artifacts is Fragmentize great.

Nef can you please have a look at this deck and tell me what do you think about it?

The main deck looks pretty solid. I like Browbeat. It always seemed interesting and I'm curious as to how it plays out. I haven't really payed attention to magic much recently but if affinity is still popular I'd recommend Firemantle Mageas a requirement for the sb, also for heavy targeted removal opponent's i recommend Cloudshift for the sb.

Thank you for such a quick answer Nef!

I added Firemantle Mage to SB. I will have to play test more to see, if I need Cloudshift.

If you have never tried Browbeat you should give it a try. Usually my opponent can not afford to take 5 damage to face, so he has to let me take 3 cards for 3 mana - that is just awesome! Because with this type of deck I run out of cards in hand very quickly.

No problem, ehuez. I just really like Cloudshift as it easily protects Kabira Evangel which is potentially one of the most important cards in any ally deck. Either they have to respond with another instant removal or they have to use a board clear. Which leads me to discuss another major weakness ally decks face. Return to the Ranks is a decent counter to boardwipes but perhaps you may want to consider Eerie Interlude. It can also be used as a blink for more counters if it happens to be a dead draw.

I think, that for this type of an aggro deck, it is not good to use Cloudshift. I know all the great thinks which it can do. I love it in my deck Allies - As a unit we stand and united we fall!. This RW deck is much faster than WG deck in which I use it. I think that in this deck it is better to draw new ally than Cloudshift with which I can protect one of my allies.

Honestly I do not like Eerie Interlude at all. I usually spend all available mana to play creatures (in WG deck I usually keep 1 mana unused for Cloudshift) - but in this deck the best defense is offense.

I like the way you math

Dear dahhahm,

I am happy to hear that you like my deck :)

I also play allies (four colour), and the T3 win can also be achieved by:

T1: Hada Freeblade

T2: Akoum Battlesinger, Swing for 5 (3/3 Freeblade, 2/1 Battlesinger)

T3: Akoum Battlesinger, Hada Freeblade/Expedition Envoy swing for 18 (8/5 Freeblade, 2 5/1 Battlesingers)

Assuming it all goes well, total of 23 damage to face on T3

Dear PPD,

you are right, there is a lot of possibilities how to win on 3rd turn with this deck. I mention only one of them...

I did some changes:

MB:

+4x Firemantle Mage, -2x Ondu Cleric, 2x Munda, Ambush Leader moved to SB

+2x Boros Charm, -2x Browbeat

+4x Inspiring Vantage, -4x Temple of Triumph

SB:

+2x Deflecting Palm, +2x Boros Charm, 2x Firemantle Mage moved to MB, -2x Mirror Entity

Very glad to see Boros Charm. Firemantle Mage and Deflecting Palm make their way in. They all work well in this strategy. Firemantle Mage pushes through more damage than I would have guessed.

Lifegain in the form Ondu Cleric and the need of Return to the Ranks to be played after turn 4 felt like they were both at odds with the idea of speed you professed earlier.

Clifftop Retreat vs. Inspiring Vantage is a choice I am wrestling with.

As is Fragmentize vs. Wear + Tear Cost at sorcery vs. flexibility and possible 2 for 1 at Instant speed.

Depending on your meta you may find that your sideboard doesn't help against lifegain or graveyard strategies. Skullcrack and Relic of Progenitus may help there

Dear keevel,I am happy to hear that you like the changes which I make.

I prefer Inspiring Vantage over Clifftop Retreat, because I play only 8 basic lands so it would often come into play tapped and slow me down. Since I play cards with CMC 3 or less it does not bother me if it comes to play tapped in 4th turn.

Fragmentize vs Wear + Tear is very hard choice. I just like that it costs only 1 white mana.

I have been running something similar to this list for a few weeks (I used to play Naya Allies) and I prefer Wear // Tear over Fragmentize in the SB because Wear // Tear is instant speed and it's more versatile.

Boros Charm is pretty awesome and has saved me many times. I've been watching your list evolve and I'm happy to see it made the cut.

Dear torvex,

thanks for your comment. Sadly, I did not find any deck in your profile. Where can I see deck list of your naya allies?

Have you considered splashing green for Harabaz Druid, Beastcaller Savant, Sylvan Advocate, or Oran-Rief Survivalist.