My take on BW Allies from Battle for Zendikar, upgraded by oath of the gatewatch. I wanted a deck that I could get into standard for fairly cheep and could be upgraded as needed. Since origionally purchasing this deck, I have made serveral upgrades.
The goal of this deck is to grind advantage on the board while draining the opponant's life into mine.
For this deck, "drain" means they lose 1 life and I gain 1 life.
Matchups: (needs updating)
-Artarka Red Aggro, this is a good matchup if you leave mana open for Red's 3rd or 4th turn for removal. If you can keep them from dropping you from 13+ to nothing on turn 3 or 4, you will easily lifegain away fro any burn or second ditch efforts they can muster.
-Aristocrats, also a good matchup. Your drain, gives a nice advantage against them and also your fliers allow for damage there.
-GW Megamorph, often can present a challenge, but if you side in extra exile removal, this really does amplify the power level against them. Remembering what morphs were returned to play from the GY (or luckily hitting the right one with exiling removal) will really help this matchup swing in your favor.
-Jaski, is the most difficult match ups (dark Jaski included) simply because of the speed and control this deck brings. Using Felidar Sovereign and Mastery of the Unseen will really help out.
-Abazan, supprisingly is not very hard for the Allied Defensive. But with all the flying, draining and having control for their stuff. This match is on the easier side of life. Bring in Feldiar Sovereign because his butt is too big.
-Ramp or Combo decks, just side in 4x Infinite Obliterations and try to just nail their combo stuff or big dudes.
-Savage Knuckleblade and friends, all having 4 power makes life a bit hard for this deck. everything we have tends to die to them. Just make sure you use Gideon's ult and if you can get 2 ulted. You should win this game. Be sure to side
Stasis Snare
out for Valorous Stance.
UW control, this is a harder matchup, but I have yet to see how Mastery of the Unseen will work here. I'll get back to you on that.
(That's all I can think of for now...any matchup I missed? Let me know.)
Cards in the maybe board are cards that I've considered adding either to the main board or sideboard.
As with all my decks, if you comment ideas and tips, please share the good that I missed (or that you've tried and has proven worthy), the bad that I need to remove and the deck that you are working on so I can help you out also! (Currently proficient in EDH and Standard, but will attempt to help with anything.)
