Note: This deck is under construction still. Feedback as suggestions is welcome! Check out the contact page if you'd like to contact me.

Deck Tech Saffi/Rallier

Let's go over a deck I have been a fan of lately, GWu Saffi/Rallier. This deck uses Saffi Eriksdotter, Renegade Rallier, and Altar of Dementia to mill your opponent at instant speed. The main loop is to sacrifice Saffi, targeting Rallier. Then sacrifice rallier to the Altar, targetting your opponent. This then triggers the Saffi ability, bringing back Rallier. Rallier then triggers bringing back Saffi. Then the Altar ability resolves, milling your opponent for 3. Repeat until your opponent has no more cards!

Currently I am still tuning this deck, so expect updates on this over time.

Why play the deck

1. You ❤️ renegade rallier.
2. You want a fast, consistent combo deck.
3. You like green and white sideboard cards.
4. You are not scared of graveyard hate.

The deck is fast, consistent and resilient against lots of strategies. It can kill as soon as turn 3. It is weak against graveyard hate, exile based removal, and certain common sideboard cards like consign to memory. To fight this, we have access to really powerful sideboard answers of our own. In a pinch, you can even attack to win. Very fast decks like amulet titan or ruby storm can present a problem pre-sideboard, but are weak post-board due to the options we have in green and white and tutors providing consistency.

The Deck

Combo Pieces (11-12)

• 4 Saffi Eriksdotter
• 4 Renegade Rallier
• 3-4 Altar of Dementia

Lands (22 total including mdfc)

• 4 windswept heath
• 4 flooded strand
• 1 forest
• 2 plains
• 2-3 temple garden
• 0-1 Hallowed Fountain
• 0-1 meticulous archive
• 1-2 lush portico
• 1-2 boseiju, who endures
• 0-1 Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth
• 3-4 Witch Enchanter

Other Core (21)

• 4 ephemerate
• 4 malevolent rumble
• 3 recruiter of the guard
• 2 sevienne's reclamation
• 4 Solitude
• 4 noble hierarch

Renegade Rallier in particular is the most important card in the deck since it gets back both other combo pieces as it enters if you are able to trigger revolt. Both Saffi and Altar of dementia provide ways to trigger revolt as do some other cards in the deck like the fetch lands. When not comboing, Rallier provides ramp by bringing back fetch lands to the battlefield or other small creatures (like noble hierarch).

For the other combo pieces, Altar can be used to mill yourself, looking for combo pieces to put in the graveyard, while Saffi can be used to protect creatures from destroy effects. Alongside Rallier on the defensive, it allows Rallier to block a creature. When Rallier dies, Saffi's trigger can bring it back which then brings back Saffi, herself. This leads to boardstalls against even eldrazi.

Ephemerate is another very powerful card alongside Rallier as it provides protection in response to removal on rallier while also triggering the revolt trigger, bringing back another permanent. Ephemerate/solitude of course is a powerful interaction, exiling up to 3 creatures over 2 turns. Saffi also works well alongside Solitude providing a second ephemerate-like effect (target Solitude with Saffi in response to the sacrifice trigger on evoke).

Sevienne's Reclamation can bring back a combo piece from the graveyard (2 when flashed back!) which allows you to mill yourself with altar and malevolent rumble while digging. This is great in the matchups where removal is destruction based rather than exile as it gives some inevitability, but it is not great vs fast decks like energy or prowess. Malevolent Rumble is the best enablement card, letting you grab interaction like solitude, or any of the combo pieces. And the temporary mana from the eldarazi token can be helpful to combo faster.

Recruiter of the guard tutors both of our combo creatures, solitude, witch enchanter (for a land or as a disenchant effect), and tribute mage (see flex cards below), depending on the situation at hand. It also is great with ephemerate!

Other flex cards to consider mainboard

• 0-2 tribute mage - helpful to get altar of dementia or sideboard pieces post-board, albeit, slow. Don't play if not splashing blue.
• 1-4 giver of runes - Good in removal heavy metas. Protects the creatures. Tutorable with recruiter.
• 0-2 Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd - grindy card. Blinks recruiter and solitude for great value. Can be used against tokens to remove them from play. Meta dependent.
• 0-4 cache grab - worse version of malevolent rumble but fine to play as a flex card. Exposes you slightly more to graveyard hate, but improves consistency.
• 0-3 prismatic ending - good, flexible removal. Only play if splashing blue.

Cards considered (untested)

• Green Sun's Zenith & friends - Gets both combo creatures, but does not get altar in any way, nor does it help with other parts of core deck. Could replace some recruiter of the guards, and some flex spots to fit in a small green tutor package of cards like Keen-Eyed Curator and main deck endurance. Sylvan Safekeeper can work well in such a build, too.
• white orchid phantom - Good against 3+ color decks and big mana strategies. Synergizes with blink effects like ephemerate and Phelia. If playing, consider some amount of flagstones of trokair in the mana base which can be used to ramp yourself.
• aether vial - vial can help play around counter spells and give you more virtual mana and flexibility. Overall though, it is not good alongside too many non-creature spells, so likely not a great card in this strategy. I have tested it once but have replaced it with malevolent rumble and not looked back.

Sideboard options to consider

• 1 thassa's oracle - You can mill yourself if your opponent is playing cards like Emrakul, The Aeons Torn or other eldrazi titans. Also allows comboing against leyline of sanctity, in case that is in your meta. Note, you can reanimate it using the last revolt trigger on renegade rallier, so you do not need double blue.
• 2-4 orim's chant - best card post board vs counterspells. Great vs storm and removal spells, too. Pack some number of these.
• 2-4 endurance - great vs graveyard decks (especially storm!) and provides free graveyard interaction.
• 0-2 surgical extraction - similar to endurance, but permanently deals with a card. Better in some matches (for instance vs Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury) at cost of 2 life. Can also be used vs eldrazi titans, as well.
• 2-4 force of vigor - excellent free removal to counter hate cards and removal like leyline binding or static prison. Very strong vs amulet titan.
• 1-3 pick your poison - great card vs zoo and counters other hate cards like leyline of the void. Not as good as force against decks that play lots of artifacts or enchantements.
• 0-2 blacksmith's skill - great vs removal. Can protect creatures and altar.
• 0-3 veil of summer - best card vs discard and fatal push and good vs counterspells. Though, we are not too concerned with cards like thoughtseize since we can always rallier back an altar or saffi which is why I recommend 0-3 depending on meta.
• meddling mage - can be a speed bump against a lot of decks. Especially good vs decks with one type of exile based removal like solitude, kozilek's command, or static prison. Don't play if not splashing blue.

2 mana artifacts that can be gotten with tribute mage:

• 0-1 defense grid - good vs control
• 1-2 unlicensed hearse - graveyard hate that also presents a clock. Good vs graveyard-centric decks.
• 1-3 damping sphere - Good vs amulet titan, storm, and some eldrazi decks.

Note, these artifact hate cards are also good alongside renegade rallier