Dies to Removal

I was just thinking the other day that if I ever got around to building a Tiny Leader, it'd be Saffi. I think I'd try to have a bit more of an aggro backup plan though. Seems to me your entire gameplan revolves around Loyal Retainers, without whom you probably just lose. Not that you shouldn't play him, because he's awesome, but I'm thinking Emancipation Angel and Kor Skyfisher to get some beats in while helping with an EtB plan, and Serra Avenger just seems too good to pass up. Saffi does a passable job at protecting key attackers.

With a 50 card deck, is Altar of Dementia good enough? Life is so much harder without Reveillark... Probably not.

How much do artifacts and enchantments feature in this format? Is Aura Shards a good sideboard card?

Kitchen Finks is one you probably considered, but it seems good if you wanted to move away from the combo a bit more.