[Flash!]: 3 Reasons why Expedition Envoy is underrated

Okay, I admit. When this card first came out, I was really disappointed. This is no Hada Freeblade... This is just... an Elite Vanguard.. The was the problem as a player who wants to break Ally into the Modern Format. Ally tribe, though versatile, is deemed to be its best when implementing an aggro strategy. (I'll discuss more of this in the coming articles.) Hence, having another set of 1-drop that is actually playable, makes a lot of difference in the first 3 turns of damage calculation.

Complicated Love Triangle. Expedition Envoy was Elite Vanguard, retired, and slapping an Ally subtype to fight the Eldrazis. By no means Hada Freeblade, but hey, they may meet each other somehow I guess?

So being disappointed as I was, I overlooked this card for several months. It was only during a deck editing session, and seeing this decklist taking down top 8, that I rediscovered this card. Though I was skeptical and hesitant, I went ahead and tried a playset in the deck. The results were shocking. Here's what I discovered, summarised to 3 reasons, regarding the power of Expedition Envoy.

1. The only Ally that can trump Hada Freeblade in terms of damage out-put in the first 2 turns. Look, I get you. She is no Hada Freeblade, and she will always dies to EVERYTHING. That lousy excuse aside, having her down in turn 1 and getting ready to attack in turn 2 onwards, it just shows her power level as an aggressive cards. I had an old article talking about the difference of a 1/3, 2/2 and 3/1 body in limited and that they all have their uses depending on the deck. Here in an aggressive strategy, having a 2/1 body would be better than a 1/2 body. Likewise, a 2/1 will always trump a 1/1 body.
   
   
   Make sense?
   
   
   Now to shorten all the possible maths involved, we just have to compare the damage output on the next turn both Expedition Envoy and Hada Freeblade; Expedition Envoy leads by a single point of damage if Hada Freeblade missed an ETB trigger that turn (Hada ETBs as a 1/2). It is only two turns that Hada Freeblade takes the lead in both damage and survivability. Sure I will agree that in later games, Hada Freeblade will take the cake as the stronger one-drop.
   
   
2. Elite Vanguard has seen his share of competitive play in white weenie decks, which are essentially aggro decks. This is a relative comparison to the power level in competitive scene. An essential 2/1 vanilla creature at one drop is deemed powerful enough to see play in aggro decks. My point here is that having an exact duplicate of Elite Vanguard, with an "Ally" subtype sticked to it, it is really a no-brainer and no excuse for aggro strategy Ally decks not use it.
   
   
3. Ally is all about ETB triggers. It's all about the trigger. Ticking up the Aether Vial, or saving the mana to cast more Allys to Rally the tribe is really crucial to trigger off the tribe's synergy and combat tricks. Having her at one mana really makes a difference in spending and conserving mana. Especially in the midgames where it does make a difference in having one or two triggers in that turn to finish the game.