Drafting with Wagz #7: Allies

By Wagz

Hi all, productive week for me as you can see :). I entered an 8-4 draft and my first booster gave me a bit of a conundrum. Hideous End is the normal first pick and Living Tsunami is an obvious Bomb, but I felt like giving Allies a try, especially considering how overdrafted Black is online. The key to drafting Allies is to take all the allies and the +1/+1 counters are always the best because they get more and more relevant rather than having small effects every now and again. Here's how it went:

Pack 1 pick 1:



My Pick:

As I said I wanted to give Allies a try.

Pack 1 pick 2:



My Pick:

Sticking to my plan :)

Pack 1 pick 3:



My Pick:

Although Hagra Diabolist is there I don't like having a WW a RR and a B card in the same deck - if I am WR allies then best to go WRg because of the two refuges and Harrow. Therefore I take a big Red card.

Pack 1 pick 4:

My Pick:


Ally. The +1/+1 counters are the best ones.

Pack 1 pick 5:



My Pick:

If I end up WGr then this guy is a great maindeck card.

Pack 1 pick 6:



My Pick:

Should probs take Expedition Map here but I raredrafted for no reason. Bad pick.

Pack 1 pick 7:



My Pick:

Good combat trick but the boosters are looking a little empty - best to cut my colours hard at this point.

Pack 1 pick 8:



My Pick:

Might want to splash Black eventually if it's going badly, refuges keep open my options.

Pack 1 pick 9:



My Pick:

Ally.

Pack 1 pick 10:



My Pick:

Barrage wheeling makes high-Red good :D.

Pack 1 pick 11:



My Pick:



Pack 1 pick 12:



My Pick:

Aaaand a second, woot!

Pack 1 pick 13:



My Pick:



Pack 1 pick 14:



My Pick:



Pack 1 pick 15:



My Pick:



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Pack 2 pick 1:



My Pick:

Good on-colour Removal. Aeronaut is good too but removal is better. Ondu Cleric isn't a good enough ally to pick here and it will wheel.

Pack 2 pick 2:



My Pick:

Ally. They really do get better in numbers so you can take them over better cards.

Pack 2 pick 3:



My Pick:

Good tempo card. I considered the Aeronaut and the Refuge too.

Pack 2 pick 4:



My Pick:

Ally. Bit worried about the manabase now but these guys are too strong to not play.

Pack 2 pick 5:



My Pick:

Ally.

Pack 2 pick 6:



My Pick:

Removal.

Pack 2 pick 7:



My Pick:

Ally, you never know.

Pack 2 pick 8:



My Pick:

Allies can has problem with fliers so Spidersilk Net on a Makindi Shieldmate can really help.

Pack 2 pick 9:



My Pick:

Ally.

Pack 2 pick 10:



My Pick:



Pack 2 pick 11:



My Pick:



Pack 2 pick 12:



My Pick:

Gemblades is excellent but I'm not going to play it and I'd rather remove the possibility of a Crab deck being out there.

Pack 2 pick 13:



My Pick:



Pack 2 pick 14:



My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 15:



My Pick:



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Pack 3 pick 1:



My Pick:

Niice booster, two good on-colour removal spells. I should probably have taken Burst Lightning but I got greedy and raredrafted. DOJ really isn't that good in an Ally deck because your guys get better in numbers. Having said that, I don't want it played against me.

Pack 3 pick 2:



My Pick:

Ally. Berserker was looking nice until I saw my second Pyromancer.. sick.

Pack 3 pick 3:



My Pick:

Obv the removal.

Pack 3 pick 4:



My Pick:

Ally.

Pack 3 pick 5:



My Pick:

Ally.

Pack 3 pick 6:



My Pick:

Ally. I've already got 2 Spire Barrages and allies get so much better in numbers that this guy is now a really good creatures in conjunction with the rest of them, better than a Spire Barrage in context.

Pack 3 pick 7:

My Pick:

Raredraft.

Pack 3 pick 8:



My Pick:

Ally.

Pack 3 pick 9:

My Pick:

Ally.

Pack 3 pick 10:



My Pick:

Sideboard.

Pack 3 pick 11:



My Pick:



Pack 3 pick 12:



My Pick:



Pack 3 pick 13:



My Pick:



Pack 3 pick 14:



My Pick:



Pack 3 pick 15:

My Pick:




Sorry for a lot of the picks being boring with my descriptions but when you're in on the Ally plan you really just want to take Allies, Removal and Manafixing - everything else is cute and not good enough (would you play counterspells in Bushwhacker?).

My deck was as follows:

1 Kazandu Blademaster

2 Ondu Cleric

2 Oran-Rief Survivalist

3 Makindi Shieldmate

2 Joraga Bard

2 Tuktuk Grunts

2 Murasa Pyromancer

1 Journey to Nowhere

1 Punishing Fire

1 Slaughter Cry

1 Magma Rift

1 Day of Judgment

2 Spire Barrage

4 Forest

9 Mountain

8 Plains

The manabase is obviously a bit dodgy but 19 lands helps offset that since each guy I cast effectively has Cascade into Thrive. I'm not sure about Day of Judgment but it did win me the game when we were both in burn range against Mono White by clearing the board and giving me some time. I won't go into the play because you just have to make more and more allies - remember to get the +1/+1 counter guys down first and don't trade in combat unless it's really advantageous because you want your guy on the board more than you want their guy off it. Cheers for reading!