With the release of Battle for Zendikar, there has been some talk of an Ally deck making a comeback in Standard. It had a short window of success in previous Standard formats, but nothing ever really materialized. The mana was good, but the card quality was underwhelming compared to Siege Rhino. And while the Allies of Zendikar may have been strong enough to reach Constructed, a trigger that gives all your creatures trample just isn’t the same as having your entire team grow with every spell you cast.
The world is not the same in Modern. All the cheap Allies that grow to enormous sizes are legal and ready to do battle. Haga Freeblade, Bojuka Brigand, Kazandu Blademaster, and Oran-Rief Survivalist don’t look like much, but they all trigger when they enter the battlefield, and will continue to grow for basically every spell you play for the rest of the game. Miracle-Gro was a very real contender in Extended for a while, with Quirion Dryad growing to enormous sizes. Allies basically gets to play 16 copies of Quirion Dryad!
Akoum Battleslinger is another great one, it has haste and pumps your entire team to threaten lethal attacks quickly and out of nowhere. Kabira Evangel is the other focal point of the deck, granting all of your creatures protection from a color to ensure that your opponent doesn’t get to do any blocking.
From there, we have some of the more expensive Allies to cast that add utility. Drana, Liberator of Malakir gives the deck some evasion while also continuing to pump your already very large creatures. Firemantle Mage and Lantern Scout are 2 more Allies out of Battle for Zendikar that will make blocking nearly impossible, or give your team lifelink and guarantee that racing is out of the question.
The real highlight of this deck for me is the mana. We are playing cards that cost red, green, double-white, double-black—and yet the mana is great! Cavern of Souls, Ancient Ziggurat, and Ally Encampment allow us to play 12 sources of every color without taking any damage! Decks like this tend to rely heavily on cards like Mana Confluence and taking lots of damage to cast spells, but that’s far from the case here. The Ally deck looks like a legitimate contender.
Modern Allies
PLAMFINATOR, MTGO Modern League (5-0)
