The 36 Best Allies in Magic Ranked

Last updated on December 26, 2025

Sokka, Tenacious Tactician | Illustration by Robin Har

Allies were first introduced in Zendikar as one of the main creature types there. Many allies trigger when other allies enter the battlefield, and some get stronger as you keep playing allies. From then, we’ve seen allies when we first returned to Zendikar and again in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

As creatures in MTG keep getting stronger and stronger, it’s always good to evaluate how the old and new allies fit together. Stay with me, and let’s see what allies have to offer in MTG.

What Are Allies in MTG?

Lantern Scout | Illustration by Steven Belledin

An ally card in MTG is a creature with the ally creature type. Ally cards represent people that unite for a greater cause, whether it’s to explore the world of Zendikar, defend against the Eldrazi, and more.

An ally creature usually gets better if you’re casting allies or if other allies are around. Here, I’m sticking to ally creatures, so I won’t consider token-makers like United Front, Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, or Retreat to Emeria.

Honorable Mention: Experience Counter Allies

• Aang, Airbending Master
• Katara, Waterbending Master
• Toph, Earthbending Master
• Zuko, Firebending Master

Avatar: The Last Airbender Eternal introduces five new legendary creatures that care about experience counters (one of which is not an ally). These four are very powerful, but their value is totally related to how fast you can get experience counters.

For example, you can add Katara, Waterbending Master to any Commander deck that cares about casting cards on your opponents’ turns, like Alela, Cunning Conqueror, and it’s going to do fine. A card like Toph, Earthbending Master can rack up experience counters if you’re ramping, while Zuko, Firebending Master is excellent in a combat-focused deck with instant speed or flash auras, and so on. Decks like Meren of Clan Nel Toth or Otharri, Suns' Glory can appreciate these cards as well.

#36. Hada Freeblade

Hada Freeblade is a simple but effective creature. In an ally deck, it’s usually a 3/4 or bigger for 1 mana. Of course, a 1-drop with no late game abilities can only go so far.

#35. Resolute Blademaster

Resolute Blademaster looks small, but giving double strike to every other ally you control isn’t an ability to be ignored. It’s not a card you want to topdeck on an empty board, though.

#34. Kabira Evangel

Kabira Evangel pushes damage by giving your allies evasion in the form of protection against one of your opponent’s colors. It’s totally dependent on the number of allies you control: This card alone is just a 2/3, but it’s strong on a wide board.

#33. Angelic Captain

Angelic Captain is a big and evasive ally, and it’s not hard to attack with this creature as a 5/4 or 6/5. A 4/3 body, however, is particularly weak to 3 damage removal spells. Good on offense, not so on defense.

#32. Turntimber Ranger

Turntimber Ranger looks like a weak 2/2 for 5 mana. But actually, you’re getting a 3/3 and a 2/2, and each ally that comes next gives you a 2/2 token. This card allows you to go large and tall.

#31. Hagra Diabolist

Hagra Diabolist is a good finisher if you have a huge board presence, and it’s nice that each subsequent ally deals more damage. You cast this card, make your opponent lose 1 life, cast another ally, make them lose 2 life, and so on.

#30. Kalastria Healer

Kalastria Healer is more limited than Hagra Diabolist, but it’s only 2 mana, so it’s expected. You don’t deal increasing amounts of damage, but you can gain life in small increments, and it can still be a good win condition.

#29. Jwari Shapeshifter

Clones usually cost 4 mana, but here’s an ally clone that costs only 2. Jwari Shapeshifter’s best attribute is its flexibility, since you can copy drain cards like Kalastria Healer, damage-pushing cards, +1/+1 counter cards, and more.

#28. Lantern Scout

Lantern Scout gives all your creatures lifelink for a turn, so you’re not restricted to using this in only ally decks. Lifegain decks or life drain decks should appreciate the huge life swing, too.

#27. Drana, Liberator of Malakir

Drana, Liberator of Malakir is a vampire and an ally, and a nice, evasive attacker. The best part is that Drana has first strike, so their combat damage occurs first, and the +1/+1 counters it puts on your other creatures actually apply before normal combat damage.

#26. Aang, Air Nomad

Aang, Air Nomad is a beefed Serra Angel, and unlike many other allies, this card doesn’t need a support squad. I’d play this card to strengthen the allies at my disposal and alongside cards that grant allies lifelink or double strike.

#25. Reckless Bushwacker

Reckless Bushwhacker’s ability to pump your team and give them haste makes it a nice addition not only to ally decks, but also to go-wide or goblin decks in general. Surging this card after you play another creature spell is perfect timing to hit your opponents for a huge amount of damage.

#24. Mai, Scornful Striker

Mai, Scornful Striker is perfect coming out of the sideboard against spellslinger, control, or combo decks to greatly limit what they can do. It’s a nice addition to decks that use cards like Kambal, Consul of Allocation, too.

#23. Great Divide Guide

The biggest benefit of running Great Divide Guide is the easy 5-color fixing it provides. It’s a mix between a bear and a Chromatic Lantern, while it turns even a 1/1 ally token into a mana dork.

#22. South Pole Guide

It’s very powerful to combine a Soul Warden and a card draw engine in the same 2/2 body. South Pole Voyager makes you actively want to make two creatures enter at the same time, or create two tokens. This card can be a powerful engine for ally decks to make sure they stay alive and keep the gas tank full.

#21. Sokka, Bold Boomeranger

Although it’s just a 1/1 for 2 mana, Sokka, Bold Boomeranger can grow very fast, especially in older formats where you can cast many artifacts for 0 or 1 mana. Plus, you get a free discard and draw effect, which fuels plenty of synergies on their own.

#20. Zulaport Cutthroat

As a Blood Artist that hits every opponent instead of just one, Zulaport Cutthroat is a guaranteed presence in black sacrifice or aristocrats decks. And nothing impedes players from playing both cards.

#19. Earthen Ally

Earthen Ally is a 1-drop creature that stays relevant as the game progresses. This card can grow to be a 5/2, and late in the game, you have a powerful activated ability.

#18. Yue, the Moon Spirit

Now this is in the opposite direction of aggressive ally decks. Yue, the Moon Spirit lets you cast any noncreature card for free, provided that you can waterbend 5. It’s certainly a nice idea to build around and encourages filling your deck with expensive cards. Or you can add this to your 5-color ally deck and use your friends to pay for the waterbending cost.

#17. Momo, Friendly Flier

Momo, Friendly Flier can see play in flying decks just because it’ll be a 2/2 flier for 1 mana most of the time. And it can be so much more with cards like Lingering Souls, or expensive fliers you wouldn't mind getting down for a mana cheaper.

#16. Toph, Hardheaded Teacher

Toph, Hardheaded Teacher is a nice way to build around lesson cards, but it’s nice that each spell you cast, not just lessons, gives you an earthbend 1 trigger. Lessons allow you to earthbend 1 and add an additional counter, and all of this synergizes with additional +1/+1 counter cards.

#15. General Tazri

General Tazri isn’t the best ally card, but one of the best to build around in Commander. And fetching any ally from your deck helps sequence your cards better. Sometimes you need more life or more board presence, and Tazri lets you fetch a tool you need from your deck, while the ability wins games.

#14. Suki, Courageous Rescuer

Suki, Courageous Rescuer is a buffed 2/4 for 3 mana that already gives your other creatures +1/+0. Any ally token you can make is already a 2/1, and if you’re playing this card, you should strive to make as many tokens as you can.

#13. Earth King’s Lieutenant

The plane of Innistrad can rely on Thalia's Lieutenant, and the Avatar world has the Earth King's Lieutenant. This card is the foundation of a GW go-wide ally strategy in Standard, and it’s also sees play in Commander when allies are involved.

#12. Katara, the Fearless

Katara, the Fearless fits perfectly into any ally deck, and it’s even a competent commander itself. Ally creatures are full of triggers, be it enter triggers or attack triggers, and just doubling them is excellent. This gets silly when you create two ally tokens and get four “whenever an ally enters” triggered effects.

#11. Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder

Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder combines double strike with lifelink, two excellent and synergistic abilities, and you can buff any creature you control whenever this card enters or attacks. That means Bruse Tarl itself attacks as a 3/3 double striker with lifelink, if you need it to. Its powers expand a lot when you partner this card and can give this buff to blue fliers or giant green creatures.

#10. Aang, Swift Savior / Aang and La, Ocean’s Fury

Aang, Swift Savior shines as a tempo play with its ability to remove a creature or even a spell out of the way. Aang is also an ally, and triggering ally effects at instant speed makes all the difference, especially because you can buy a turn or two when you flash Aang in response to a removal spell.

#9. Kasla, the Broken Halo

Allies are good at making creature and tokens, and Kasla, the Broken Halo takes advantage of them for convoking. Kasla can be a huge 6/5 flying beatstick for very cheap, and each convoke card gives you a free Preordain after that. It’s a shame that waterbending is so close to convoking but technically not the same, because it would fit here perfectly.

#8. Hakoda, Selfless Commander

Hakoda, Selfless Commander let’s you cast your ally spells from the top of your library, so you know which deck you want to slot it into. While doing so, you’re triggering cards that care about allies entering the battlefield, so it’s great support. Hakoda also protects your creatures from a wrath, which is a key problem for ally decks.

#7. Bumi, Unleashed

What can I say about a 5/4 trample that brings a 4/4 to the fight? And for only 5 mana? Bumi, Unleashed is a pure midrange threat, and you can also get extra combats for your participating lands. That is, until you cast Ashaya, Soul of the Wild, then all your creatures can join the fun.

#6. Fire Lord Zuko

Fire Lord Zuko is an interesting Mardu commander () that can combine airbending and firebending. It cares about casting cards from exile, so airbending is a good choice right away. Of course, you can also blink your creatures, impulse draw, and so much more. A 2/4 creature that can spread so many +1/+1 counters around is fine in my book.

#5. Iroh, Grand Lotus

Giving flashback to all your instants and sorceries is great. Iroh, Grand Lotus gives a cost to lessons in your graveyard, which makes it one hell of a payoff for lesson cards. You can make a deck that maximizes drawing and discarding to cast Mascot Exhibition or Overwhelming Victory from your graveyard.

#4. Toph, the First Metalbender

Have you ever triggered landfall by making artifact tokens? Toph, the First Metalbender is a very powerful Naya creature () that can command many different decks, but nothing special about allies. Each turn, you can put two +1/+1 counters on a land or on a noncreature artifact, which is now becomes a land. It’s an ideal commander for the earthbending mechanic and landfall triggers alike.

#3. Appa, Steadfast Guardian

Appa, Steadfast Guardian is a big flying and blinking ally. You can gain a disgusting amount of value by airbending your ally creatures, casting them again, and making 1/1 ally tokens. If you have a card like Hagra Diabolist around, you might kill your opponent just with the allies that enter from Appa's ability.

#2. Sokka, Tenacious Tactician

Sokka, Tenacious Tactician is a powerful riff on one of my favorite cards: Monastery Mentor. You can create ally tokens while you storm off, which works wonders with most allies. You’re also making a prowess army, the trick is to have a fine balance between ally creatures and noncreature spells.

#1. Avatar Aang / Aang, Master of Elements

Avatar Aang is a card to build around the different elemental bending arts, and each time you bend an element, you draw a card. That’s already fine on a 4/4 flying body, and just attacking with Aang draws you at least a card. It’s fine to transform Aang into Aang, Master of Elements, but it isn’t necessary. If you want to do that more easily, try out Moonmist.

Best Ally Payoffs

Ally creatures are interesting in that they’re the enablers and payoffs for the same strategy. You need allies on the field, and you cast allies to enable them, so each ally is a small enabler and a small payoff. Here’s the most impactful reasons to play an ally strategy.

General Tazri is the go-to ally commander. You can unlock five colors with it, tutor for any ally, and buff your whole ally battalion.

Sokka, Tenacious Tactician gives all your allies menace and prowess. Katara, the Fearless doubles all your allies’ triggers, while Yarok, the Desecrated doubles enters triggers. You’ll lose on red and white with Yarok, so it’s better used in 5-color ally decks. Hakoda, Selfless Commander lets you cast ally spells from the top of your library.

Rukarumel, Biologist is a weird one: You’ll basically make slivers into allies, so you can combine the synergies from both creature types.

Harabaz Druid generates insane amounts of mana if you have enough allies, while Sea Gate Loremaster draws a lot of cards.

Kalastria Healer wins you the game if you have a consistent way of drop allies onto the field. In the same vein, Hagra Diabolist is a sort-of Gray Merchant of Asphodel for allies.

Is There a Difference Between Ally, Allies, and Allied?

Yes, there are some differences and nuances. Many creatures have the ally creature type and care about when another ally creature enters the battlefield. Such is the case with a card like Allied Teamwork. The card reads: “Create an ally token” and “allies you control get +1/+1.” All this text only references the creature type.

Cleopatra, Exiled Pharaoh is a single card that has “allies” as a flavor word for its end step trigger.

In MTG, we also have the allied color pairs, like Azorius (), Dimir (), Rakdos (), and so on.

United Front vs. Unified Front

These are two different white cards related to allies that can generate some confusion based on similar names. United Front is a converge card that creates ally tokens based on the different mana spent on the spell to a maximum of four. Unified Front is much stronger, and you can dump as much mana as you can to create X ally tokens and also put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control (including the ones you had before). There's also United Battlefront, another similarly-named card that has nothing to do with allies at all.

Wrap Up

Unified Front | Illustration by Dan Scott

And that’s about it for allies today, guys. Allies got a huge boost from Avatar: The Last Airbender between cards from both TLA and TLE. Now we can take ally decks in whole new directions, including spellslinging, artifacts, landfall, and more.

Which legendary allies are you considering for building Commander decks? Are you interested in ally typal decks? Let me know in the comments section below, or let’s discuss it over Draftsim Discord. And please remind me if I left some allies behind along the way.

Until next time, stay safe.