Wednesday I featured a Naya deck of a different sort, creature-light and combo-focused, where this one is creature-heavy and ostensibly fair. It’s like Merfolk, right? All your creatures help each other, as is typically the case in a tribal deck, and if you put together a critical mass of them, you have something powerful.
But Merfolk isn’t trying to overpower you solely on the back of its tribal synergies. It has enough disruption to handle its creatures not coming together every game. Allies aren’t into that whole “disrupt your opponent” nonsense. Sure, there are a few removal spells so a pesky Tarmogoyf can be moved out of the way when needed and a typical slate of high-powered Modern sideboard cards, but really, the Allies just want to band together in as large a group as possible and do patently ridiculous things.
When all of your creatures power up all your other creatures, it really doesn’t matter what mix of them you draw, so long as you draw a lot of them, and Collected Company is the all-star there. Come prepared with a lot of dice and a memory for triggered abilities, because you’re going to need them. Also, brush up on your basic math skills so you’re not overwhelmed with Akoum Battlesinger and Reckless Bushwhacker triggers. There’s no better feeling than confidently attacking and immediately announcing the damage total while your befuddled opponent is shaking their head and hopelessly counting on their fingers.
If you do those things, than this pile of draft creatures can coalesce into something that is truly unfair. You can quite easily set up Reckless Bushwhacker turns for more than twenty damage, especially if you cast a Harabaz Druid on turn 2. After playing with the deck some (and as you’ll see in the games), I can’t imagine playing fewer than four copies because it makes your draws more explosive than any other card.
You might be worried that this deck trades Merfolk’s buttery-smooth, all-blue manabase for a three-color mess, but Cavern of Souls and Ally Encampment are excellent fixers that also have extra utility to compensate for the loss of Mutavault. It may be an Ally, but it doesn’t trigger anything, so good riddance. Only creatures willing to help the unit are welcome in this army.
Creatures (30)
- 3 Kabira Evangel
- 4 Kazandu Blademaster
- 1 Ondu Cleric
- 4 Akoum Battlesinger
- 4 Hada Freeblade
- 3 Harabaz Druid
- 4 Expedition Envoy
- 1 Firemantle Mage
- 3 Reckless Bushwhacker
- 3 Metallic Mimic
Lands (18)
Spells (12)
Sideboard
