Ally Encampment MTG Card
2015-10-02 - Number 228s
2015-10-02 - Number 228
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Land |
Key Takeaways
- Enables card advantage by recycling Allies for crucial gameplay moments.
- Facilitates casting of Allies with mana fixing tailored for multicolored decks.
- Instant speed Ally retrieval offers protection and flexible responses.
Text of card
: Add . : Add one mana of any color. Spend this mana only to cast an Ally spell. , , Sacrifice Ally Encampment: Return target Ally you control to its owner's hand.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Ally Encampment offers unique filtering capabilities, providing an edge in maintaining a strong hand. By allowing a return of an Ally to your hand, this land ensures that you keep essential creature cards available for pivotal moments in the game.
Resource Acceleration: It stands out by generating one mana of any color that can be used specifically for casting Ally spells, which is crucial for a multicolored Ally deck. This attribute accelerates your resources, allowing for quicker and more consistent deployment of Allies onto the battlefield.
Instant Speed: The ability to bounce an Ally back to your hand at instant speed provides a level of flexibility and protection against removal. It acts as a safeguard for your key creatures, letting you react swiftly to threats and maintain your board presence by preserving your troop of Allies.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Ally Encampment’s ability to return an Ally to your hand comes at the price of discarding another card. This trade-off can set you back, particularly if you’re already facing a tight hand.
Specific Mana Cost: Despite its flexibility in generating mana for Ally creatures, the Encampment restricts you by requiring colorless mana for other spells or abilities, which can be a limiting factor in multicolored decks.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Tapping for a specific mana type is handy, but if you’re looking to diversify your mana sources or accelerate your mana base, there are more cost-effective options available to slot into your deck.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Ally Encampment is a land card that can seamlessly integrate into any deck featuring Ally creatures. Its ability to provide mana of any color for casting Ally spells ensures it supports a wide range of multicolored Ally-centric decks, increasing the adaptability of your MTG collection.
Combo Potential: This land card offers more than just mana fixing; it allows for the return of an Ally to your hand, setting up potential combo plays or saving a crucial creature from removal. It can be a key piece in intricate play sequences that exploit Ally synergies.
Meta-Relevance: In a meta that favors tribal strategies, including an Ally Encampment can significantly enhance your gameplay. As creature-based decks rise in popularity, having a consistent mana source that doubles as a strategic tool to protect and reuse your Allies could give you the edge over the competition.
How to beat
The Ally Encampment is a land card with a niche purpose in Magic: The Gathering, serving decks that are built around the Ally creature type. This card provides a great deal of support for Ally strategies, offering both mana fixing and the potential to save allies from removal. Beating an Ally Encampment relies on disrupting the synergies it promotes. Consider employing land destruction or strategies that hamper its effectiveness, such as non-targeted removal or sweepers that surpass its protective ability. Aim to manage the board and keep Ally creatures in check to mitigate the advantages Ally Encampment brings to the table.
Spot removal might not always be effective due to the Encampment’s ability to return an Ally to its owner’s hand, so broader strategies can be key. Also, recognizing that Ally Encampment only aids creatures of a specific type, broadening your threats beyond creature targeting can circumvent its utility. Utilize cards that affect the player or multiple creatures to minimize the value obtained from the Encampment’s Ally-centric support.
Ultimately, overcoming an Ally Encampment demands a strategic approach that limits the impact of the synergies it amplifies. Ensuring that your deck contains versatile answers to a variety of threats will prepare you well for any Ally-based deck supported by this powerful land card.
Cards like Ally Encampment
Ally Encampment shines in its role within Magic: The Gathering tribal decks centered around Allies. Its closest kin perhaps is Ancient Ziggurat, a land that also provides mana specifically for creature spells. Where Ally Encampment allows for mana of any color to cast an Ally spell, Ancient Ziggurat expands this boon to all creature types, though neither can be used for noncreature spells.
On the other hand, there’s Cavern of Souls, which ensures your creatures of a chosen type can’t be countered and provides mana of any color for that creature type. This feature offers a significant advantage over Ally Encampment for decks that are vulnerable to control strategies. Moreover, while Ally Encampment can return an Ally to your hand, Cavern of Souls has no such functionality, encouraging a direct, unyielding approach to gameplay.
Considering the utility and flexibility it brings to Ally-themed strategies, Ally Encampment holds a special place. It not only bolsters mana fixing but also offers a defensive mechanism to safeguard key Ally cards from permanent removal. It’s a card well-tailored for its specific tribe, providing both versatility and resilience in the tribal framework of Magic: The Gathering.
Cards similar to Ally Encampment by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Ally Encampment MTG card by a specific set like Battle for Zendikar Promos and Battle for Zendikar, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.
For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.
Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.
Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Ally Encampment and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Printings
The Ally Encampment Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2015-10-02 and 2015-10-02. Illustrated by Jonas De Ro.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2015-10-02 | Battle for Zendikar Promos | PBFZ | 228s | 2015 | Normal | Black | Jonas De Ro | |
| 2 | 2015-10-02 | Battle for Zendikar | BFZ | 228 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Jonas De Ro |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Ally Encampment has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Ally Encampment card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2015-08-25 | An “Ally spell” is any spell with the subtype Ally. Mana produced by the second ability can’t be spent to pay the costs of abilities of Allies you control. |
| 2015-08-25 | The last ability can only target an Ally on the battlefield. |
