Sunday, March 29, 2015

Battle for Zendikar

So Wizards will returning to the plane of Zendikar for September 2015.  Based on the pictures, one has to assume that there will probably be some busted Eldrazis again.

Buttt that might also mean the return of the Ally creature type.  Wizards constantly does this - a tribal block is pushed just ALMOST enough to become tier 1 in standard, but then it never happens and the deck is eventually forgotten.  There was a real cool Naya Ally-aggro deck back in the warm year of 2010.  Ultimately, it never put up the numbers and that was that.

Saying "Naya" makes me feel weird, because a newer player likely won't have played SIX years ago during Shards of Alara.  I know all the shards and color combinations are labelled thanks to Ravnica, Alara and now Tarkir, but I feel like years from now, newer players will wonder about these names.  G/R is called Gruul?  Why?  Oh well, time marches ever onward, I suppose.

Anyway, the cards for an Ally deck in modern are almost there.

Hada Freeblade
Oran-Rief Survivalist
Kazandu Blademaster
Jwari Shapeshifter
Akoum Battlesinger
Phantasmal Image

Aether Vial

Oran-Rief Survivalist isn't even that good and there's also Bojuka Brigand, who's just currently borderline playable since there's nothing else.  Adaptive Automaton?  Meh.

What I like about this deck is the flexibility for sideboard slots.  Ondu Cleric against Burn, Tuktuk Scrapper against Affinity and Highland Beserker against other aggressive decks.

There needs to be at least one other good one drop, but probably two more.  

You might wonder whether I'm interesting in playing Meathooks (the sliver deck).  But hey, guess what, I'm not.  Allies already give bonuses when they come into play so you don't just lose when you attack and one of your guys dies.

So, if Zendikar is as broken as I think it will be, prepare for a bunch of degenerate combos in the future.


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