Is there an Ally that isn’t affordable? It’s the damn fetch lands, cavern of souls and the like that are out of reach by most but the rich and or dumb.

Yeah, I realize that might have come off as a bit intense. But I really disagree strongly with the direction the author took this deck in, and I needed to make sure I got my 2 cents. As for your brews… I’ll be happy to take a look. I’ll be posting under the username rothgar13.

Maybe if it was a one of from the utilities, using my list, then drop the scales, drop the vial, and add some of the utility cards. I think that could have potential. Or just go way down, and use scales maybe as a 2 of and same for vial.

Hey Roland, man, though you do come across as a bit intense, I think your points are very well thought out. I don’t think the deck is a bad deck, but I can see how it won’t be as synnergistic as the ones with all the two drops. I think it would still win matches at your local game store but maybe not against more established decks like twin or machines. (though machines may have a harder time against this ally deck)
I’d really appreciate someone like you looking over my brews every now and then at tappedout.net. Here is the 5 color ally one I just recently updated with the new ally stuff. : http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/all-in-allies/

That’s kind of a weak argument, honestly. The mana cost of the creatures doesn’t matter as much as what you get out of them. In the case of Allies, the beef is at the 2-drop spot, with Oran-Rief Survivalist, Akoum Bladesinger, and Kazandu Blademaster (you can even throw the Kor Bladewhirl in if you want). Your deck as currently constructed essentially prays for a T1 Freeblade and a T2 Akoum Bladesinger (or T1 Vial and T2 Bladesinger + Freeblade) to stick, then to hit 2 more land drops (hopefully while casting Allies every turn) so that you can flip a Company for value and maybe scrounge up enough damage + evasion for lethal. There are a lot of moving parts in that plan, and while some are just vicissitudes of the creature type (Allies are good when they’re casting dudes every single turn), others are entirely avoidable.

I fail to see how this deck generates any notable sort of early pressure without both Freeblade and Bladesinger (due to the lack of size and high CMC of the creature base), and how it hits 4 mana consistently (due to the lack of ramp and low land count). I’m sorry, but this needs work.

I agree strongly with this post.

I too question the inclusion of Bladewhirl. There was access to a first strike ability before, in the form of the mentioned Highland Berserker, and it never really found a home in most ally decks.

I still don’t know what to think of the Firemantle Mage. I consider its ability worse than that of the evangel and if you have both out, menace becomes irrelevant. But with all the 3 drop allies in this deck that do not grow with +1/+1 counters, amazing support cards like Abzan Falconer or Mirrors Entity are not that effective. So i see why this card was included over them.

The blademaster is just penomenal. Being able to grow is something worth considering. Especially since i am failing to see what the support creatures are actually supporting. The only creatures that can grow and present a threat are Hada Freeblade and the Warleader. Even with the lord effect of Adaptive Automaton I see this deck getting stuck on a board with 3/3 creatures midgame where you have to hit a creature topdeck to make them being able to attack. And the colorfix should not be that hard, since there are only two lands that can not produce white mana for the blademaster.

The inclusion of Lantern Scout in this build is understandable. Your vial being on three and the ability to be picked up by CoCo make this one a strong card in this deck, compared to the bigger Thalus Paladin.

With a deck that has a lot of 3-drops, 20 lands seem to be dangerous. Maybe 22 lands or the inclusion of Harabaz Druid could provide a more consistent mana source to not be as reliant on the vial.

I see that this deck tries to get the best out of vial and CoCo with playing 3-drops, but i do not see much pressure being build in turn one and two, compared to the 2-drop allies.

I like to see allies that are more midrange. However i too would include more two drop allies to also have access to support cards like the falconer or mirror entity and to have more aggro on the board.

Sorry that I don’t have time to pick through your whole paragraph, at this point I’m fairly tired.

The reason for all the 3 drops is quite simply, Collected Company. Collected Company is at its best when you get 2 3 drops, and the value is all generally downhill from there, putting 2 1 drops into play isn’t particularly exciting, so these kind of decks tend to lean away from traditional low drop creatures.

I would actually lean towards Dromoka’s Command here. It’s creature removal, Twin removal, sweeper protection, and gives a bit of sustained damage. Boros Charm also does the sweeper protection and the damage piece, but I like having more interactive options to prevent some matchups from becoming coin tosses. Command even helps against the random noninteractive decks, killing Electromancers, destroying Ascensions, and sacrificing Unlifes!

On the subject of inclusions, why is Kor Bladewhirl here (presumably) over Kazandu Blademaster? Global first strike is cute, but nothing special – if it were, Highland Berserker would have seen play in Daniel Mulato’s version. Secondly, you have 15 (!) 3-drop creatures between Firemantle Mage, Adaptive Automaton, Veteran Warleader, Kabira Evangel, and Lantern Scout – that is unprecedented when compared to most successful Modern aggro decks (including its 2 closest comps, Merfolk and Elves), and is a major departure from what Mulato’s list went for (14 2-drops, 8 3+ drops) – you basically have to have a hand with an AEther Vial, or you risk getting stuck. Utility creatures are only helpful once your aggro base is established, and given that Akoum Bladesinger’s pump is only temporary (and does not give global haste), Hada Freeblade alone does not an aggro deck make.

I’m sorry if this comes off as overly critical, but I think this deck has some big time questions to answer before it can be taken as a serious first draft. 3-drop-centric Vial aggro decks have been done time and time again, and they haven’t worked. Why will this one be any different? Furthermore, Allies have a multitude of beefy 2-drops available, and you can pick and choose from the support creatures you have outlined here to get them there. Why not do that instead?