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As recorded in an earlier report, the Instant Speed team had a bad time playing allies at the
Oath of the Gatewatch prerelease event last weekend. We seemed to be dragged in that direction heavily with two sealed pools. Allies being so synergy based, we tried it out, woo'd by all the vampires and 4 power cohort allies. The results were not promising.
With the right draft, you can still have power. Yet how resilient is an ally deck? We prejudged the ally stratagem an aggressive one. OGW is very heavy with removal, and aggro builds waver more in the face of the removal your opponent will bring to bear. Each removal spell is twice as hurtful to your cohort than if it were a gaggle of Eldrazi. There are fewer easy and/or good targets for removal against Eldrazi with they're typically larger rear ends, and plenty for cohort, which tend to run higher power.
Marshall (of the podcast
Limited Resources) mentioned Cohort may have latent power so let us examine further.
TEAM AWARDS
Like the Eldrazi drone/processor relationship, there are cohort enablers and cohort payoff cards. Note: We will stick with OGW cards, as they represent the first two and most formative packs in any draft.
Vampire Envoy will be one of the top 5 cards of the set, and for our purposes brings us the Number Three VIP for Cohort decks. At common, there could be 3-4 in a pod. Better than
Kalastria Healer, Vampire Envoy needs very little to trigger, and in fact is the best candidate to accomplish both goals of Cohort, namely, to raise shields early and to be a tappable ally available at the end of your opponents turn.
Ally all-star number two is Support (Relief) Captain. This is a crushing curve card that is only one white mana more expensive than
Shoulder to Shoulder, which supports 2. While powerful outside of the deck in question, this card drops an ally to the board which you wouldn't mind tapping down before combat, in conjunction with
Spawnbinder Mage, to either smash with one or two pumped creatures or simply sit back behind your curve-out and counters and start to use Cohort drains and removal. Relief captain is an early win condition in itself.
The color White brings us Top Honors with number one in Affa Protector. While this card doesn't have the potential synergy that Vampire Envoy contains, this is another 4 toughness creature in the turn 3 spot, when your opponent is likely to have either a 2 drop shaking off summoning sickness, or if you're on the draw, he's attacked once already; either way, shields up! Having Vigilance means you can both attack with and reserve for end-step Cohort activation, making this brave soldier the backbone of any Ally-laden deck.
PAYOFF CAPTAINS
Munda's Vanguard is THE top tier Cohort card. At 3/3 it is more resistant than its allies, outliving the likes of
Tar Snare,
Flaying Tendrils, and
Searing Light. One pump and you're ahead; two pumps and you are towering above. The 5 CCM is a slight drawback, this rare being a little arrogant, showing it knows how good it is (leaving the Best White Card spot to other
worthy suitors).
Malakir Soothsayer takes higher honors than Drana's Chosen easily. The 4 toughness is just too important to shake a
Grasp of Darkness at. The Cohort ability to blood magic up some cards is powerful, and can put you ahead of your opponent faster than Drana's Chosen. If this follows any number of Vampire Envoys (or, dear Santa Clause,
Cliffhaven Vampires), then you've arrived at GO, collect $200.
At uncommon, you are very likely to see one of these in an 8-man pod. If this lane is open, you may see two (you're top end probably doesn't want three, but it is possible). Speculatively, Soothsayer in conjunction with
Akoum Flameseeker and
Zada's Commando may create a Grixis Ally deck we haven't seen before.
That's it. That's all the Payoff.
Drana's Chosen doesn't drop allies and dies to every removal spell in the game.
Spawnbinder Mage won't help you get back into a game, and even as a second-line ability it is undesirable.
Ondu War Cleric is a common 2 drop you will likely use to build a curve, but that is all.
THE RISK
The number-one enemy of this, and most decks in the format, is going to be uncommon, two mana, cannonball-in-a-card, Grasp of Darkness. No ally printed outlives this card. You may have one top tier affect that could become a win condition if left unchecked, but as soon as you see this card, Red Alert, you are entering the topdeck zone.
Oblivion strike will also neatly stow your top tricks away into your exile pile. At common, you are likely to see it more often, and around the same time as you are playing your payoff cards.
In Red, we have two burn spells that would leave the Cohort Machine in pieces: Tears of Valakut and Devour in Flames.
Devour in Flames is more likely to come out turn 4 or 5, when losing a land will hurt tempo less, meaning it will be likely be saved up for your top tier Cohort Card. It will get rid of almost any ally you have.
Tears of Valekut, on the other hand, will cut the legs from underneath your machine, and get rid of early Vampire Envoys and
Makindi Aeronauts. Later on, Cliffhaven Vampires and
Steppe Gliders make great targets).
Blinding Drone is definitely getting attention. A devoid deck is less likely to have the colorless mana available until turn 4-6, but once it can keep your top threat tapped down (cheaper than the Spawnbinder Mage), you will be up against the wall and wishing for a
Containment Membrane of your own.
CONCLUSION
We were able to illuminate several enabling cards that have the added bonus of giving you the lead on the board state heading into the mid-game. The payoff cards are few and fall too easily, however. It remains the (slightly) educated guess of the Instant Speed MTG! team that this deck shall be found wanting in the face of Black/Blue and Black/Red Devoid decks. The enablers like Vampire Envoy and Affa Protector are still good enough to seek 3rd or 4th pick, and will still form the backbone of any deck in those colors, however Black/White Lifegain and White/Blue support/flyers may make more use of them than will the Ally/Cohort deck.
LISTEN TO THIS SPECIAL REPORT IN PODCAST VERSION
HERE
The top deck of the tournament went to an Atarka Red build, many of which were sporting the handiness of Relentless Bushwacker, a three drop that can go along with a one mana burn spell to out-cast opponents before mid-game. 
