It’s been quite a while since Ally decks have seen any major play, and most players haven’t even thought about the archetype in several months. With White control decks moving away from Day of Judgment and toward a more creature-based strategy, this deck has the potential to do very well. Recently, even most multicolored decks are only playing creatures of one color, putting Kabira Evangel in a position to do some serious damage. In addition, the major sweepers in the format seem to be Black Sun's Zenith and Slagstorm, both of which are far less effective when your creatures are steadily building up +1/+1 counters.

Here’s the list I put together:

[cardlist]

[Creatures]

4 Akoum Battlesinger

4 Hada Freeblade

4 Harabaz Druid

4 Kabira Evangel

4 Kazandu Blademaster

4 Oran-Rief Survivalist

4 Talus Paladin

[/Creatures]

[Spells]

4 Lead the Stampede

4 Oblivion Ring

[/Spells]

[Lands]

4 Mountain

9 Plains

1 Rootbound Crag

2 Sunpetal Grove

4 Copperline Gorge

4 Razorverge Thicket

[/Lands]

[Sideboard]

4 Ondu Cleric

4 Tuktuk Scrapper

4 Celestial Purge

3 Manabarbs

[/Sideboard]

[/cardlist]

The Allies

Hada Freeblade is a must-have in any Ally deck. If you manage to drop one on turn one, he’ll usually get up to 3/4 or 4/5 fairly quickly. This guy is like your own little Tarmogoyf. Later in the game, triggering all your Allies for only is still pretty good, and the Freeblade makes it easy to get two or three triggers in a single turn.

Kazandu Blademaster is one of the best Allies, and is good enough to be included despite his difficult casting cost. A 2/2 with First Strike and Vigilance is fairly good on its own, and the ability to get bigger every turn makes this guy pretty ridiculous. Although you’ll sometimes stumble on the casting cost, the Blademaster is still amazing on turn three, and can even be useful when cast on turn four or later.

Oran-Rief Survivalist is no Kazandu Blademaster, but he still gets the job done. This deck needs a lot of early creatures, and the Survivalist definitely makes the cut. Even with no other abilities, the power to become a 3/3 or 4/4 is nothing to sneeze at.

Akoum Battlesinger is a little on the small side, but the pump effect can get in a lot of extra damage, especially if you can trigger it multiple times in the same turn. The Battlesinger also gets ridiculous in multiples, often giving all your Allies as much as +4+0.

Harabaz Druid lets you cast multiple Allies in the same turn quite easily. Playing a turn-one Hada Freeblade followed by this on turn two is one of the most powerful things you can do in this deck, often letting you play three or more allies on turn three alone. The Druid also performs the duty of fixing your mana, making Kazandu Blademaster much easier to cast.

Kabira Evangel makes your Allies nearly unblockable in this environment. This is the kind of card that makes other aggro decks jealous. For what it’s worth, it also makes Condemn pretty much useless.

Talus Paladin is essentially a giant Hada Freeblade, but one that comes with a huge bonus. Giving all your creatures Lifelink makes it almost impossible for opposing aggro decks to win, and can buy you a few extra turns if a control deck gets out its finisher. It also helps that this guy can become enormous if you still have a few Allies in your hand.

The Support

Lead the Stampede is this deck’s Divination, and will usually refill your hand with two or three more Allies. It’s a great way to spend extra mana from a Harabaz Druid, and can repair draws where you don’t get enough Allies to win the game. This card gives you a huge advantage compared to other aggro decks, enabling you to bounce back quickly after a board-wipe, and ensuring that you can keep the threats coming in an attrition war.

Oblivion Ring is this deck’s only removal spell. The power of an Ally deck comes from continuously playing creatures, and you won’t be able to do that if your deck isn’t filled to the brim with them. Oblivion Ring feels like the best choice here because it gives us an answer to any threat we might come across. Not only is it one of the few removal spells in Standard that effectively deals with Titans, it gets rid of any troublesome planeswalkers we might come across, as well as powerful enchantments like Tempered Steel.

The Sideboard

Celestial Purge is a very good card to have around right now. It comes out of the board to replace Oblivion Ring, and helps you effectively deal with Splinter Twin, Koth of the Hammer, and any other Black or Red threats you might come across.

Tuktuk Scrapper comes in to deal with the Tempered Steel decks that have been growing in popularity lately. It can deal with almost every threat in the deck, while still keeping the damage flowing.

Ondu Cleric helps out against other aggressive decks. It will gain you a few life even if it’s dealt with immediately, and if it isn’t, your life total will quickly soar out of reach.

Manabarbs gets sided in against slow control decks. It will greatly punish opponents for playing all those expensive spells, while you continue to spend only 2 or 3 mana at a time. You can even use Harabaz Druid to avoid tapping lands altogether.

Play-Testing

With the deck list put together, I set out to play a couple matches against decks that are doing well right now.

Vampires – Game 1

I won the roll and kept a hand of Plains, Razorverge Thicket, Copperline Gorge, Hada Freeblade, Kazandu Blademaster, Talus Paladin, and Lead the Stampede. I opened by playing the Razorverge Thicket and the Freeblade before passing the turn. My opponent played a Blackcleave Cliffs and a Pulse Tracker and passed. I drew another Plains, played it, and cast my Kazandu Blademaster before attacking for 2. My opponent played a land, then cast Lightning Bolt on my Blademaster and attacked with his Pulse Tracker. I drew an Oran-Rief Survivalist and played it along with a land. I then attacked for 3 with the Freeblade. My opponent played a land and passed the turn. I drew Razorverge Thicket, played a land, and cast Talus Paladin. I attacked for 7, and my opponent blocked the Freeblade with his Pulse Tracker. During my end step, my opponent cast Go for the Throat on my Talus Paladin, and I ended the turn at 25, with him at 12. My opponent played another land and cast Hero of Oxid Ridge, passing the turn with no attacks. I drew another Hada Freeblade, played my land, and cast Lead the Stampede. I got a third Freeblade, an Akoum Battlesinger, and a Kabira Evangel. I then cast a Hada Freeblade, and attacked with my 5/6. My opponent blocked with his Hero and I passed the turn. My opponent cast Manic Vandal and Bloodghast before passing back. I drew an Oran-Rief Survivalist, then cast Akoum Battlesinger, followed by Kabira Evangel, giving my Allies +2/+0 and protection from Red. I attacked for 25 unblockable damage, and that was that.

Sideboarding:

−4 Akoum Battlesinger

−4 Oblivion Ring

+4 Ondu Cleric

+4 Celestial Purge

Vampires – Game 2

I kept a hand of Plains, Razorverge Thicket, Ondu Cleric, Kazandu Blademaster, Kabira Evangel and two Lead the Stampede. My opponent took a mulligan, and opened with a Dragonskull Summit. I drew a third Lead the Stampede, played the Razorverge Thicket, and passed the turn. My opponent played a land and cast Bloodghast before passing the turn. I drew another Kazandu Blademaster, played a land, and cast it. My opponent played and cracked a fetch land, cast a kicked Gatekeeper of Malakir, and attacked for 2 before passing the turn. I drew Celestial Purge, cast another Blademaster, and passed the turn. My opponent cast Lightning Bolt on the new Blademaster and attacked for 4. He then played a Vampire Lacerator and passed the turn. I drew a Sunpetal Grove, played it, and cast Kabira Evangel. My opponent took 1 from his Lacerator and attacked for 6. I blocked the Gatekeeper and went to 10. He then played another Bloodghast and passed the turn. I drew a Mountain, played it, and cast my Ondu Cleric, gaining 2 life. My opponent went to 17 from his Lacerator and attacked with everything. Kabira Evangel killed the Vampire Lacerator, and I dropped to 8. He then played a land and passed the turn. I drew a Plains and played it, then cast Lead the Stampede, getting Hada Freeblade, Ondu Cleric, and two Kazandu Blademasters. I cast a Blademaster, going up to 11, and passed the turn. My opponent attacked with both Bloodghasts, which I blocked and killed, then played a fetch land to get them back before ending his turn. I drew and played a Razorverge Thicket, then cast Kazandu Blademaster, Hada Freeblade, and Ondu Cleric, in that order. After the triggers resolved, I was at 32 life, and had 5/5 and 4/4 Blademasters, along with a 2/3 Hada Freeblade. I gave all my creatures protection from Black and from Red, and attacked for 8, dropping my opponent to 9. My opponent drew his card and conceded.

Blue-Black Control – Game 1

I won the roll and kept a hand of two Plains, Copperline Gorge, two Oran-Rief Survivalists, Kabira Evangel, and Lead the Stampede. I played a Plains and passed the turn. My opponent played a Swamp and cast Inquisition of Kozilek, taking one of my Survivalists. I drew an Oblivion Ring, then played Copperline Gorge and cast the remaining Survivalist. My opponent played Darkslick Shores, cast Preordain, then cast another Inquisition of Kozilek, taking my Kabira Evangel. I drew a Talus Paladin, played a land, and cast Lead the Stampede, getting Akoum Battlesinger and Harabaz Druid. I then attacked for 2 with my Oran-Rief Survivalist and passed the turn. My opponent played another Darkslick Shores, then cast Duress, taking my Oblivion Ring. He then passed the turn with 2 mana open. I drew a Kazandu Blademaster and cast it. My opponent cast Mana Leak, and I attacked for another 2 before passing the turn. My opponent cast Preordain, played a Creeping Tar Pit, and passed the turn with 2 mana open again. I drew a Plains, but opted not to cast the Talus Paladin in case he had another Mana Leak. I cast Akoum Battlesinger instead, and it resolved. I attacked for 5, putting my opponent at 11, and passed the turn. My opponent cast Jace Beleren, drew a card, and played another Creeping Tar Pit before passing the turn with only one land untapped. I drew a Mountain, played it, and cast Talus Paladin. Akoum Battlesinger took down the Jace, and Oran-Rief Survivalist dropped my opponent to 6. I passed the turn with 27 life. My opponent played Tectonic Edge, then tapped out for a Grave Titan. I drew a Kabira Evangel and cast it, and my opponent conceded.

Sideboarding:

−3 Kabira Evangel

−4 Oblivion Ring

+3 Manabarbs

+4 Celestial Purge

U/B Control – Game 2

I took a mulligan, and kept a hand of Sunpetal Grove, Copperline Gorge, Hada Freeblade, Akoum Battlesinger, Kazandu Blademaster, and Celestial Purge. My opponent opened with an Island and a Preordain. I drew a Razorverge Thicket, played it, and cast Hada Freeblade before passing the turn. My opponent cast another Preordain and played a Creeping Tar Pit. I drew an Oran-Rief Survivalist, played Copperline Gorge, and cast it before attacking for 2. My opponent played Darkslick Shores and passed the turn with 3 mana open. I drew a Plains, played it, and cast Kazandu Blademaster, which met a Mana Leak. I dropped my opponent to 14 and passed the turn. My opponent played a land and cast Solemn Simulacrum, getting an Island. I drew a Mountain, played my Sunpetal Grove, then cast Akoum Battlesinger and attacked with a 4/4 Hada Freeblade, a 4/3 Oran-Rief Survivalist, and a 2/1 Battlesinger. My opponent blocked the Freeblade with his Solemn Simulacrum, and dropped to 8 before drawing a card. I passed the turn. My opponent played a land and cast Black Sun's Zenith for 4, wiping the board. I drew Harabaz Druid, played a land, and cast it before passing the turn. My opponent played a land and cast Grave Titan, getting a pair of 2/2 Zombie tokens. I got rid of the Titan with Celestial Purge at the end of his turn. On my turn, I drew an Oran-Rief Survivalist and cast it before ending my turn. My opponent attacked with a Zombie token and a Creeping Tar Pit, bringing me to 15, and cast Jace Beleren. He drew a card and passed the turn. I drew a Hada Freeblade and cast it, then attacked Jace with my 3/3 Survivalist. My opponent blocked with his Zombie, and I passed the turn. My opponent drew an extra card with Jace, then attacked with his Zombie token, putting me at 13. He then cast another Grave Titan, making two more Zombies. I drew and cast Lead the Stampede, and my opponent Mana Leaked it. I tapped my Harabaz Druid to pay the 3 mana, and saw only a Hada Freeblade and four lands. I cast the Freeblade and passed the turn. My opponent ticked his Jace down to 0 to draw another extra card, then attacked with Grave Titan, Creeping Tar Pit, and all three Zombie tokens. My 4/4 Oran-Rief Survivalist and 2/3 Hada Freeblade traded with the Grave Titan, and I dropped to 4. I drew my top card, hoping for another Lead the Stampede, but it was an Oran-Rief Survivalist. I did the math and conceded.

U/B Control – Game 3

I kept a hand of Copperline Gorge, Plains, Oran-Rief Survivalist, Akoum Battlesinger, two Kazandu Blademasters, and Talus Paladin. I played my Plains and passed the turn. My opponent opened with an Island and a Preordain. I drew a Harabaz Druid, played the Copperline Gorge, and cast it. My opponent played a land, cast another Preordain, then cast Inquisition of Kozilek, taking my Akoum Battlesinger. I drew another Talus Paladin, cast Oran-Rief Survivalist, then tapped the Druid to cast Kazandu Blademaster before passing the turn. My opponent played an Island, and passed the turn with 3 mana open. I drew Lead the Stampede, tapped Harabaz Druid for , and cast Kazandu Blademaster, which my opponent countered with Stoic Rebuttal. I used my remaining mana to cast Lead the Stampede, getting a third Talus Paladin and an Akoum Battlesinger. I attacked for 5 and passed the turn. My opponent played a land and cast Solemn Simulacrum, getting an Island before passing the turn. I drew Celestial Purge, cast Akoum Battlesinger, and tapped my Druid to cast a Talus Paladin. I attacked for 16, and my opponent blocked the Survivalist, going down to 6. I ended my turn at 36 life. My opponent played a land and tapped out for a Grave Titan. I drew a Plains, played it, cast Celestial Purge on the Titan, then cast another Talus Paladin. I attacked with everything, and my opponent conceded.

This deck definitely has what it takes to compete in today’s Standard, but a lot depends on you drawing the right cards. Lead the Stampede is a great card for refilling your hand after the board has been cleared, but as I saw in the second game against U/B control, the random factor can sometimes hurt you. The key to playing this deck is sequencing. Figuring out how to play all your lands and creatures in the right order takes some practice, but once you figure it out, the deck will really reward you, and you can pull every last once of power out of your draws.

If you feel like trying something different, or if you just love playing with Allies, give this deck a try. Most of the cost of the deck comes from the dual lands, so it shouldn’t put much strain on your budget, and it will definitely surprise your opponents with how fast and powerful it can be.

If you have any questions or comments, you can find me on the forums under Twinblaze, on Twitter under @Twinblaze2, or simply leave a comment below.