Mild necro for those rotation brews. Friend was super into allies their first time around and wants to play them again but hates making his own decklists. Here's what I've got after like two playtests:
Collected Abzan Allies
Looking at the allies I think you either go wide with this deck for drana, veteran warleader, and both kalastria healer and zulaport cutthroat to flex their muscles best, or powerful 'combo' naya for the double strike, haste, and +2/+2 allies.
The general plan is simple- run out some kind of curve, and if they stabilize in some manner finish with large veteran warleaders or drain triggers.
Creature selection is fairly straightforward- I believe the 2/3 vigilance-rally is too clunky and a sideboard ability at best. Consideration was given to both
Drana's Emissary and
Serene Steward but I think the elite vanguards are too powerful on-curve to cut, the deck can't risk too many threes, and steward is trying to get just a little too cute- the magical christmas land of VALUE these creatures can assemble
is shiny though.
Spells I've gone back and forth on-
valorous stance will likely be super-good in the coming environment, but I don't think saving a
single creature is viable for this particular deck, and slotting a pure kill spell just isn't worth it-
Dromoka's command, on the other hand, does quite a few things and has been good to amazing every time I cast it. Gideon and Collected Company
Evolutionary leap is my tech that others brewing this seem to ignore- pay green, sac a guy, drain your opponent, find a guy, rally trigger (drain your opponent) can really add up with multiple enforcers / healers. This is where the
serene steward looked really fancy- multiple lifegain triggers a turn stacked up the +1/+1 counters real fast, but stunted your spells, and this deck squeezes its mana very hard already.
I'm pretty terrible with mana bases, honestly, but I think I fiddled this one into an ok spot- Drana is very color-demanding, and you can't use ally encampment to cast dromoka's command, gideon, or activate evolutionary leap. I opted for the greedy third shambling vent over fourth canopy vista because playing so few basics makes the new dual rarely enter untapped, and the manland's usual deal of a resilient threat is great! The deck needs to play some basic plains/forests to curve out with reasonable consistency, but playing any swamps is a mistake if there are painlands available- the deck will gain plenty of life with drain triggers and lantern scout's lifelink, and you can't fetch them in any way.
Minor tips:
- Activate your manland before you trigger rally (d'oh)
- Tap evolutionary leap fodder to veteran warleader for free abilities (double d'oh)
- Collecting into two drain effects can change your math super-drastically; main phase if ok.
WHERE THEM BFZ BREWS AT
