Right now I find myself drafting one of two deck styles. One speaks to the responsible half of me. He wants all his bases covered. He pays his taxes early. He recycles. The other, well . . . that¡¯s the Mr. Hyde to my Dr. Jekyll. That guy likes speed. He sports temporary tattoos of the barbed wire variety. He leaves the toilet seat up.

The even-keel player in me likes a deck that mirrors that balanced mindset. The more balanced curve features options on all turns of the game. You won¡¯t always have a play on turn 1 or 2, but you still draft 1- and 2-drop allies for two reasons. The first reason is that they give you the opportunity to play out guys every turn. As Charles McArthur (the #1 rated Limited player in the world) said in Chicago, ¡°There¡¯s nothing better in this format than curving out.¡± You need those early allies to defend you against the more aggressive decks. The second reason you draft them is that the allies you choose at that slot are going to be relevant in all phases of the game. Korthas Greybeard and Jeleane Nightbreeze are good no matter what turn they pop into action; they just happen to be better on turns 1 and 2.

Here¡¯s an outline for the typical ally curve of this deck type:

1-cost: 0¨C2

2-cost: 2¨C4

3-cost: 4

4-cost: 3¨C4

5-cost: 3

6-cost: 2

This deck flourishes in the middle and late game. You can take it to more extremes and increase the amount of expensive allies at the end of the curve, but I wouldn¡¯t recommend it considering how popular the super-aggro decks are right now. Your goal is simply to play the biggest ally you can every turn. Eventually your deck will cough up a big ally like Anika Berlyn, and your opponent won¡¯t be able to match it. If you¡¯re wondering which cards you want for this style, here¡¯s a lineup of three great cards that can really take your deck the distance: