Nice description, kickass deck. +1

So after a lot of thought I think I'll change my allies deck to this. Thinking my current one is a bit slow. I'll make some changes myself. Thinking Alesha, Who Smiles at Death is something I could slot in for a pseudo March from the Tomb. Don't have Sword of the Animist personally so I'll skip that and naturally, I'll run Gideon, Ally of Zendikar because eh, why not?

You don't need to have Sword of the Animist, that's for sure. I often side it out. It's more just for not being colour or mana screwed, speeding up Dragonmaster Outcast's trigger, or speeding up how fast you can play any Allies you get in your opening hand.

I've seen Alesha, Who Smiles at Death work in this type of build.

Gideon, Ally of Zendikar could work. Sometimes I have sort of a mental block with some cards and can't work out how to make them play the way I want. That could be the case with Gideon.

Awesome deck, just a couple of questions though.

1) Is Crackling Doom necessary? 1b) Thoughts on Crater's Claws here? Looks like it could add some burn and work well with Drana, Liberator of Malakir

2) For those who can't get 3 Drana's would you make any recommendations?

Could you consider Stasis Snare for handle Indestructible creatures.

It's one that I've considered tim27, along with Aligned Hedron Network.

I don't think it gives me as much flexibility as Utter End and Crackling Doom because it targets, which means it can't be used against Hexproof Creatures, and it can only be used on Creatures.

Utter End can be used on anything that isn't land, which means I could take out something like Sphinx's Tutelage, and Crackling Doom can be used against Hexproof Creatures, if the timing is right.

It's not a bad idea and certainly one I'll keep in mind. Thanks!

When building board presence do you often walk into Radiant Flames and Languish?

Have you tried Duress in the Sideboard for the control matchup?

Also, check out my allies deck! I'm new here but I plan on testing it at FNM today. Please leave suggestions and comments and maybe playtest it!

Xavier's Ally Deck Playtest

Standard XavieroftheWind

SCORE: 1 | 0 COMMENTS | 82 VIEWS

Lol, went to +1 and score didn't change, musta already upvoted in the past :)

Good questions, XavieroftheWind.

If don't actually need a tonne of Allies on the field to do a lot of damage. I also try to play as few at a time as I can, unless I am playing versus control. that way I have replacements.

So a few things help with board wipe:

• Zulaport Cutthroat makes all my Creatures do damage on their way out the door.

• I can side in March from the Tomb. If I march Chasm Guide back to the field most of the key pieces of my board come back right away.

• I can make my most important Creature Indestructible to stop it being wiped by using Valorous Stance.

• Citadel Siege can put some of the Creatures outside the range of board wipes. Mind you, that does take a couple of turns apart from Drana, Liberator of Malakir.

I don't really have any room for different Sideboard cards at the moment but, if I did, my card of choice would be Transgress the Mind.

It can be played before the problem spells come out, and can grab most of them.

I will play test your deck and tell you what I think of it.

lol Jimmy_Chinchila.

Well, thanks for voting for it twice!

Hmmmm Transgress the Mind would handle the counter spells I usually grab with Duress and comes with a bonus of snagging Jace, Vyrn's Prodigy. But at the expense of not being able to eliminate boardwipes but in most cases you probably don't need to worry about that if you go one at a time. I suppose I am just always wary of cards walling out the weaker allies. Citadel Siege helps to remedy that and pushes the victory very easily. I've adjusted my deck a bit btw.

3 or greater not 3 or less I miss read it first as well

Yeah I did misread that lol. Sooo it has its place but I prefer Duress for the crappy control matchup. This deck doesn't need to protect from counters with the low curve until sideboarding in March from the Tomb but that would probably still get countered because control is trolly like that. I guess I prefer Duress then.

I've gone well against Control with this deck.

Just dropping as many spells as I can each turn runs them out of counters eventually.

That often means that March from the Tomb sneaks through.

I think situational cards should be placed into the sideboard. The main deck should have all cards that help the deck do what it does. That's my philosophy. Unfortunately, I don't have any good suggestions.

I think we are using the term "situational" in different ways.

Dragonmaster Outcast works well in this deck late game, depending on the type of deck I'm facing. Or it can get in for early damage.

That's what I mean by situational.

If it works, I leave it in. If it doesn't then it is a clear swap for something else.

I like to see what my Opponent is up to before I show them all the tricks I have up my sleeve.

Hi !!

I think -1 Zulaport Cutthroat -1 Kor Bladewhirl and +2 Resolute Blademaster is better. Do you think if Butcher of the Horde have ability life link and Double Strike??

Actually tim27 I have discovered that I needed more 2 drops, so taking out those two cards wouldn't be beneficial.

Double Strike would be nice but I've tested Resolute Blademaster and his power and toughness doesn't justify his ability. At that stage of the game I need bombs.

Resolute Blademaster not come to make damage but it's come for gain ability to Butcher of the Horde

Thanks for the constructive feedback on my deck Junk-yard Allycrats, I was curious what your build was and here it is! Loving the Mardu hasty Allies although the curve seems a bit high, are you sure full playsets of Citadel Siege & Mardu Ascendancy are needed? Perhaps you can shave 1 off each for a pair of Kalastria Healer for more incremental lifegain/lower curve.

Also, given you have both Butcher of the Horde + Chasm Guide , why not play Rally the Ancestors instead of March from the Tomb in the SB for X=4 for instant combo kill backup plan?

Yeah I get why you suggested Resolute Blademaster, tim27.

I'm always loathe to put cards in my deck that rely on each other to be effective.

To put Resolute Blademaster in I have to take things out that I find are better value eg. Butcher of the Horde with automatic Haste due to Chasm Guide is much better than one with Double Strike ... MAYBE on its second turn.

If I have my choice of a 3/2 for 4CMC or a 2/2 for 5CMC I know I'll take the Chasm Guide every time.

Don't forget that I'm getting First Strike from Kor Bladewhirl. That plus Haste is an awesome combo. If I had Ondu Champion for the Trample things would be different, but I can't stick another large card into the mix just to make one combo work.

I did do a lot of initial testing with Resolute Blademaster. In fact, he is the reason I went Mardu. He just wasn't that effective.

howaboutno you have stumbled onto my deck at a time when I am trying to find the final tweak.

I had the choice to put Kalastria Healer in but went for Expedition Envoy. My earlier build had a lot of life gain, but then I realized that it wasn't helping me win. The 2/1 for 1CMC seems to be a lot more effective than a 1/2 for 2, even with the life gain.

Don't forget that I have Zulaport Cutthroat who gives and takes life as a punishment for wiping my board. I can also give Butcher of the Horde Lifelink in the late game, if need be.

A lot of copies of Tainted Remedy are starting to float around my local meta. Mostly because of ... me! lol

Having automatic Lifegain is problematic, as a result.

I do take your point about curve though, and will remove another Mardu Ascendancy for one more Expedition Envoy.

The four copies of Citadel Siege will stay as their dual mode has saved my bacon against Eldrazi decks.

You make the best case I've heard so far for Rally the Ancestors. I will try subbing those in instead of March from the Tomb in my Sideboard and see what I like better.

March from the Tomb allows me to keep building on Rally, which can be useful. For example, think about Chasm Guide + Drana, Liberator of Malakir + Expedition Envoy coming back and sticking around.

Thank you so much for the help.

Putting Tainted Remedy in was brilliant, I may just do that. A lot of these lifegain abilities aren't "may" abilities.

I'm curious... why four Citadel Siege?

Citadel Siege is a brilliant card for me for many reasons, ComradeJim270.

It gets some of my main hitters instantly out of Languish range - notably Butcher of the Horde and Drana, Liberator of Malakir.

It helps me to win races with my mirror.

OPPONENT: Play Drana, Liberator of Malakir
ME: Play Drana, Liberator of Malakir and give her two +1/+1 counters

Most importantly, though, is its versatility. I can choose its Dragon mode and stop big Eldrazi from hitting me. Or just keeping buffing up my Creatures. When it and Drana, Liberator of Malakir are out ... Oof!!

I like it. I'm not sure I'd want to run it as a four-of here, but I see the value. The main problem is that you're using turn four on it, which isn't very good as far as tempo is concerned. It feels more like a sideboard card to me, to bring in during the matches you mentioned; that's where the tempo loss can be very much worth it.

Blanking Languish and tapping down finishers is exceedingly unpleasant for control. But an aggro player would much rather see this than a Butcher of the Horde punching them in the face and ticking up your life total to put them on a slower clock.

Yeah ComradeJim270, I understand what you're saying.

My Allies can actually out-aggro decks with their First Strike and Menace.

They lack punch in the late game, which is where Citadel Siege comes in.

I'm feel like I may be missing something in the 2 or 3 CMC mark to make this deck really sing. Sword of the Animist used to fill that role. Any ideas?