Welcome to the first modern ally primer on the internet! (As far as I can tell) There's one that you can find here From 5 years ago that kind of covers a legacy build, but it's not really a primer. Now that battle for Zendikar is out and rolling, and we're likely to see Allies in the next set as well, there will most likely be other primers popping up. However, I do hold that this is the first.

Why play allies?
"No seriously, allies suck," you might say. "They didn't do anything impressive in Standard, how are they going to compete in Modern?" Well in the Modern scene we're up against better decks, but we also have much better cards to complement our allied theme. I still don't believe that Allies will be a Tier 1 Modern deck, but neither was Lantern control when it won Grand Prix Oklahoma in September 2015. New ideas is what keeps Magic fresh and exciting. I have seen a good amount of success with allies, and I think you can too. Here are some more reasons why I, and you, might like to play allies.

    They're different
    I'm a deck brewer through and through, so I can't just pick up a tier deck and take it to a tournament, I have to make something as original as possible. Running abnormal decks also gives a slight advantage against people who don't know what to expect. I've played against many many Twin decks, but my opponent might have never played against a competitive ally deck, and likely won't know how to play against it. A similar effect happened with Adam Bowman when he top 8'd with a collected slivers deck at SSG Open Cincinnati.
    They're explosive
    Due to the nature of their abilities, Allies tend to increase in power exponentially as you gain board position. Many games, you'll win out of nowhere.
    They're flexible
    Unlike other tribal decks (Looking at Slivers, Goblins, Humans, merfolk) allies have a ton of diversity in their builds. You CAN build straight aggro, and do very well, but there's a lot of other fun things to do too: infinite mana combos, pulling creatures from your opponent's graveyards, mill, gaining more life than you know what to do with, etc...
    They're cheap
    If you're like me (a college student on a budget), you can't afford to drop $700 on a playset of Tarmogoyf to be competitive. Although you will have to drop some cash on some cards to compete with the top decks, it will still be significantly less expensive than most other options.

Most Common Deckbuilding Problem
This goes at the top because of how important I think it is. The most common problem I see in ally decks is only using ally creatures. You do not have to rely on allies alone to have a solid deck. Other creatures can and will help your deck immensely, and if they aren't ally triggers, who cares? They can give you bonuses in other ways. Reveillark will get your allies back from the grave, Legion Loyalist puts that much more power into RW aggro, Prophet of Kruphix plays your allies at instant speed. Experiment! And don't be afraid to mix allies with non-allies.

Every Ally By Color


Talus Paladin
An excellent beater for white-aggro, though could probably be replaced with some card advantage. Reason being - Ondu Cleric already gets you as much life as you could want, and his lifelink ETB effect doesn't stack with multiple triggers like others do. However, if you don't want to run Ondu Cleric , or you want a powerful midgame creature, he can definitely be a powerful tool.

Hero of Goma Fada
Indestructible is a very powerful effect, as anyone who's ever played against a Sliver Legion EDH can tell you. That being said, its not that much better than protection ( Kabira Evangel ) except that he gives it to all of your creatures. The 3 toughness is also a huge drawback, since it means he dies to a Lightning Bolt.

Kor Bladewhirl
If Kor Bladewhirl had a way to get bigger, he would easily be a top tier ally. However, without that, first strike can be an underwhelming ability, especially when it's not constant. Additionally, he actually makes Drana, Liberator of Malakir worse. (The allies wont get counters before they deal damage)

Makindi Patrol
Could be a 1 or 2 of in some aggro builds, vigilance can be a very helpful ability. The fact that hes collectible also helps.

Serene Steward
Toeing the line between mid and low tier, the only thing I like abour Serene Steward is how her ability syncs with Drana's Emissary and other lifegain allies from Battle for Zendikar. Probably not playable however.

Low Tier

Makindi Shieldmate
A 1/4 defender isn't too great, even if he does get bigger. Honestly if you want defense, put in Kazandu Blademaster . He'll be the same size, with more power, and can attack and still block if you want him to. I wouldn't consider this one unless you can utilize defender in some way.

Angel of Renewal
Any creature that costs 6 mana in modern should effectively win you the game. Angel of Renewal doesn't even get close to that.

Cliffside Lookout
When I was praying for another 1-drop ally, I was expecting something similar to Hada Freeblade, not this. If you're looking to round out your curve with more 1-drops, see the Support Cards sections.

Expedition Envoy
See above.

Kor Castigator
Way too fragile. Decent in Limited, but almost nothing else.

Kor Entanglers
Super niche ability. If this was on a 1 or 2 mana ally, it could be considered, but absolutely not for 5.

Support Cards

Return to the Ranks
Probably the best recursion spell allies have access to, convoke makes Return to the Ranks good at all stages of the game. I particularly enjoy self mill with Halimar Excavator into a 3-4 ally Return to mill my opponents out.

Ghostway
The only blink effect that I think is good enough to play, ghostway will often result in either a huge amount of life, milling your opponent, or protecting all your allies from a board wipe. Its still a dead card without board position, which is why I dont usually run it, but I can see it being useful in the right deck.

Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
A great creature to use with Hardened Scales, Anafenza can get your creatures incredibly big very quickly. With 1 Anafenza and 1 Hardened Scales, a Hada Freeblade entering the battlefield is immediately a 4/5.

Abzan Falconer
A really nice 1-of in some +1/+1 counter aggro decks, Abzan falconer can be really surprising and help you on either offense or defense.

Sun Titan
In my opinion the best creature to ramp into with Harabaz Druid, Sun Titan almost guarantees an ally trigger when he enters, and then every turn after that. A great creature to consider if youre looking for a midgame option, especially if you have other permanents your deck relies on.

Retreat to Emeria
Im actually not sure about this one yet. On one hand the ability to consistently make ally tokens if a great ability, but on the other hand it's strictly worse than Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. If any of you test this competitively, let me know.

Common cards that arent as good as them seem

Cloudshift, Momentary Blink, other single target blink effects. These are always the first support spells suggested to allies, Ive put them in several decks myself. While its true that they can save a single target from removal while also triggering your allies at instant speed, they have several big disadvantages. They remove counters from your aggro allies, most of them dont protect from board wipes, theyre horrible top decks in mid game, theyre useless without good board position, and they dont interact with your opponent.

Join the Ranks Doesnt give enough help for the mana cost.



Umara Raptor
A good choice for any deck that needs to deal with flying opponents. Thanks to Ally Encampment and Cavern of Souls, putting Umara Raptor into the sideboard of a deck without blue isnt unreasonable.

Halimar Excavator
Most likely my favorite ally, this guy made my deck viable with my friends back in 2011. Kick Rite of Replication with only a Halimar Excavator and you mill for 5 * 6 * 6 = 180, enough for 3 people at once. More realistically, you have 2 Harabaz Druid out already, meaning you mill for 5 * 6 * 8 = 240. Seriously, adding only Halimar Excavator to an ally deck makes mill a VERY realistic win condition, and its the one I focus most of my ally builds around. Additionally, at 1/3 he's harder to remove than Ondu Cleric , can block fairly well, but still dies to Lightning Bolt so be careful.

Sea Gate Loremaster
This ally is...interesting. He's so powerful that most times, if you activate his ability, you'll win the game. He gives so much card advantage that allies continue to stack so fast, your opponents won't be able to keep up. However! Once your opponent has seen him once, he'll never survive in the future. 3 toughness on a 5-drop just isn't enough resilience. If you have some way to give him haste, he could be much more reliable.

Shapesharer
Changelings are technically also allies, and a few of them work well with allied strategies, so I'm including them here. A very interesting changeling, Shapesharer could especially help in mill decks by copying Halimar Excavator . He acts as a more versatile Jwari Shapeshifter that doesn't trigger himself when he enters the battlefield, but can be recurred or blinked with Ghostway or Return to the Ranks .

Halimar Tidecaller
Another interesting ally from Battle for Zendikar, Halimar Tidecaller is a good card, but not necessarily good in most ally decks. I expect to see him pop up in standard, but he would require a very unique deck to work efficiently with other allies. Worth noting is the fantastic synergy with Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper.

Low Tier

Seascape Aerialist
One of the few allies I've never used, seascape aerialist has potential as a finisher in a UW aggro ally deck, but in my opinion W, RW, and RWG all do ally aggro more efficiently, and Abzan Falconer does effectively the same thing for 2 less mana.

Coralhelm Guide
Yeah...

Support Cards



Joraga Bard
While vigilance is a very valuable ability, 1 power for 4 mana and an ally that doesn't get bigger leaves something to be desired. The 4 toughness is nice, but I wouldn't add this one into most ally decks.

Graypelt Hunter
The only ally with built in trample, Graypelt Hunter could be good in aggro decks that don't run Kabira Evangel , and thus find themselves blocked often, but we have better options.

Vastwood Animist
Another ally I haven't had the fortune of playing myself, Vastwood Animist feels like he can be broken in some way, or have some really good interaction in a land based deck, but with most decks, probably not worth considering.

Tajuru Warcaller
A great ability, but without it, shes still a 2/1 for 5 mana, and thus isnt even collectible. The only synergy is with Alesha, Who Smiles at Death, and even then youd need to get her into the graveyard.

Tajuru Stalwart
The biggest thing I hate about allies with converge is that theyre useless with Collected Company. Ignore that, and this is a decent card, but we still have better options.

Tajuru Beastmaster
Not much to say here, the 5/5 is nice, but nothing special.

Support Cards



Highland Berserker
Another ally with an un-stackable ability. First strike is useful, however it is very rarely game breaking. Additionally, he is outclassed by Kor Bladewhirl , so if youre running white, you have no reason to use Highland Berserker .

Kazuul Warlord
An incredibly powerful, though expensive ally, the Warlord could find a home in a RG deck utilizing Harabaz Druid to get him out quickly. Combining him with allies that naturally get counters can quickly put them out of Anger of the Gods range.

Tuktuk Scrapper
Not a bad sideboard option if you have the mana for it. Tuktuk is an automatic artifact destruction, and the damage is tied to the amount allies you have, not the CMC of the artifact like similar red cards. Its a bit slow to use against affinity, but can do really well against decks that rely on their artifacts for mana or fixing like Sunny side up or Lantern Control.

Chasm Guide
So close.When this card was spoiled my tears caused it to rain for 3 days. If only Chasm Guide was 3 mana or less, we could see some ridiculously powerful combos with Collected Company. Alas, it was not to be, and now hes closer to low tier than high.

Zada, Hedron Grinder
The potential of this card gives me shivers. The interaction with cards like Cerulean Wisps is fantastic, but I havent been able to unlock her potential with an ally shell yet. That being said, I would not be surprised to find Zada in a tokens deck, since she doesnt really need other allies.

Low Tier
Support Cards



Kalastria Healer
This vampire might be closer to mid tier, but the caveat of your opponent losing 1 life on every trigger can be incredibly valuable. Im going to be using this card in my Return to the Ranks ally build as some extra life gain/life drain pressure.

Agadeem Occultist
See what I mean when I say interesting? 3 mana for a card like this could be very viable, especially when paired with a mill creature like Halimar Excavator . Want to add $170 to your deck? Steal an opposing Tarmogoyf from the graveyard. If you run this creature with enough ramp, you can also run Conspiracy or Xenograft to make all the creatures you get trigger your allies.

Bala Ged Thief
A possibility in a more control-oriented ally deck, Bala Ged Thief's ability can be incredibly powerful with good board position. If you can cast allies at instant speed, you can take your opponent's sorcery speed sweeps like Wrath of God or Supreme Verdict that would normally rain on your parade. Additionally, not a bad card to draw mid game when both players are top-decking. If your opponent only has one card in hand, the Thief's ability by itself can still be valuable.

Hagra Diabolist
The opposite of Ondu Cleric . Anyone who has played allies knows how easy it is to get 20 life with the Cleric. If you can pull it off correctly, Hagra Diabolist can be a devastating win condition.

Bojuka Brigand
Still a valuable card in +1/+1 counter oriented decks, the 2 CMC works very well with Return to the Ranks and Aether Vial. You should always use Hada Freeblade, Kazandu Blademaster and Oran-Rief Survivalist first, but if you still need more after that, Bojuka Brigand is a good option.

Zulaport Cutthroat
Another ally with the gain 1 life lose 1 life makes me excited. The fact that hes 2 cmc is even more fun.

Low Tier
Support Cards



Drana's Emissary
Flying in modern can be very useful (see Lingering Souls), and Im a huge fan of her upkeep ability, since Im a midrange player. Im going to be trying out a BW lifedrain deck once the new set comes out, maybe before.

Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper
Not really a card that works with other allies, however Noyan Dar has potential in other decks. The 4 toughness puts him out of bolt range, and the fact that he gives his land creatures haste means he could get in for deceptive damage. I really want someone to make a deck with Noyan Dar, Vastwood Animist , and Halimar Tidecaller .

Munda, Ambush Leader
I really wish Munda was 3 mana, but even though hes 4, he has a lot of value. He doesnt die to Lightning Bolt or Abrupt Decay, and he ensures you keep drawing allies. People have pointed out the sync with Descendants' Path, but Im not a fan of that enchantment, so I dont think it will see too much play.

Low Tier
Support Cards




Know something I don't?

Do you have an ally deck or know of one that isn't mentioned here? Send me a link! I'm happy to give feedback on any build, and I'm always looking for new things. If I like your deck I'll include it in the Primer! If I still think it needs work, I'll give you feedback! Additionally, if you have any ideas or questions about allies that you would like to know, ask and you will be answered. If I get enough, I'll even add an FAQ section to the bottom of the Primer. Thanks for reading! And if you enjoyed, please remember to Upvote.