[Deck] GRB Zoo

[lukatron2]

alrighty then...when most people think about zoo, generally they think "rgw aggro" of some sort. However, there have been a couple of grb zoo builds that have placed high in some legacy events such as first place finland legacy championship (Vantte Kilappa ), and (I know its a long time ago but...) Alix Hatfield placed
12th place at a StarCityGames Duel for Duals tournament on 2006-02-05. basically what I want to do is open this [deck] up to development/discussion for anyone who is interested in the testing/development of the deck (RGB ZOO). I have been working on a build that I will post after the other two decklists I mentioned above...

Maindeck:
Vantte Kilappa - Goodstuff Beats 1st place flinland legacy Championships

2 Treetop Village
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Bayou
3 Badlands
3 Taiga
1 Blood Crypt
1 Stomping Grounds
1 Overgrown Tomb
4 Kird Ape
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Dark Confidant
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Call of the Herd
2 Flametongue Kavu
2 Troll Ascetic
3 Cursed Scroll
3 Umezawas Jitte
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Duress

3 Withered Wretch
4 Krosan Grip
1 Umezawas Jitte
1 Flametongue Kavu
4 Cabal Therapy
2 Pyrostatic Pillar

Alix Hatfield 12th place dfd virginia
Maindeck:

Artifact Creatures
1 Phyrexian War Beast

Creatures
4 Carnophage
3 Flesh Reaver
4 Kird Ape
4 Rotting Giant
4 Wild Mongrel

Enchantments
4 Rancor
4 Sarcomancy

Instants
4 Lightning Bolt

Legendary Artifacts
3 Umezawa's Jitte

Sorceries
4 Chain Lightning

Lands
4 Badlands
3 Bayou
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Polluted Delta
4 Taiga
4 Wooded Foothills

Sideboard:
2 Tormod's Crypt
3 Diabolic Edict
3 Naturalize
3 Terminate
4 Cabal Therapy

My current/always changing build
RGB zoo by: lukatron

Land
4 wooded foothills
4 bloodstained mire
4 taiga
4 bayou
4 badlands

instants/sorceries/artifacts
4 lightning bolt
4 duress
4 chain lightning/ or magma jet
2 cursed scroll
3 jitte
4 rancor

creatures
4 kird ape
4 dark confidant
4 grim lavamancer/ could be rotting giant
3 troll acsetic could be flesh reaver or burning tree shaman or whatever
4 open slot (wild mongrel, carnophage, skyshroud elite, mog finatic...etc)

this is one of the many possible current lists that could use a lot of tweeking/playtesting/development/posative ideas...both lists run mongrel, but personally ive never been in love with the card. you could ditch land/dead cards late game, or ditch any cards to keep him alive early game, but seems to me like you want to play most of your spells. I know mongrel is WAY good but for some reason I cant see it. what type of creatures do you guys think deserve to make the cut?...thanks in advance for any sweet comments/ideas...

[Bane of the Living]

Magus of the Scroll. I know naysayers on the source will tell you its easier to remove than Cursed Scroll. But your playing Rancors so he becomes a cooler one drop 1/1. Then you could turn your 2 scroll slots into something better, like more creatures. River Boa may also be a good choice in the right meta. An unblockable regenerating dude is great against thresh.

[Solpugid]

But I think the appeal of cursed scroll has a lot to do with the ability to handle pro-red. Magus can't do that. I guess I'm one of those naysayers.

[Bane of the Living]

But I think the appeal of cursed scroll has a lot to do with the ability to handle pro-red. Magus can't do that. I guess I'm one of those naysayers.

The only deck that plays a whole slate of 4 pro red dudes is Angel Stompy. You already have a bad matchup there so I dont see the point in harping on it. More creatures are better in a Zoo deck. Its very healthy to go 20/20/20 on a land/creature/utility split. More creatures works better in a format like legacy however. Especially when it allows you to upgrade Duress into Cabal Therapy. Always remember, Duress < Therapy. For the same reasons Meddling Mage is so good as well. Its a playskill testing card.

He's also running Rancor which enchants Magus, not Cursed Scroll.

..also running Jitte which enchants Magus, not Cursed Scroll.

On another note, If you ARE worried about angel stompy then you should be playing Giant Growth instead of Chain Lightning. It makes bob take down the pesky siver knights and exalteds even. Then trade rancor with Berserk and you get a quicker win. Mongrel stays good that way too. Just ask Garv.

[Cavius The Great]

The first decklist is just plain bad. It's like the dude that built the deck couldn't even get a hold of a full playset of duals. I have a little saying that goes, if you can't afford to build the deck, don't build it. There's nothing worse than building a sub-optimal deck.

there's also a lot of bad card choices in that build ranging from CIP lands like Treetop Village and expensive garbage like FTK and Call of the Herd. Zoo decks are based around 1cc to 2cc creatures. This just looks like a casual deck thrown together for the hell of it.

[lukatron2]

I like the idea of mangus of the scroll because he has legs and is targetable by rancor and can swing in (cursed scroll can't). The one thing that I HAVE always liked about cursed scroll is the fact that it is not a creature and doesn't die to creature hate/burn and the fact that it isn't dead against pro red. I like the mangus idea too though but it seems like he would get popped off before he would be that usefull (early game it would suck to draw a mangus wearas scroll can sit there and survive untill it is usefull..on the other hand mangus can swing early but will most likely be killed thus taking away the importance of his ability in the first place...i'm not saying one is better but thats my look on it.....do you guys think that wild mongrel is a must have in the deck or do you think that it is sub par?
on a side note, it bugs me that almost every aggro deck in legacy has to run jitte (excluding goblins) due to the fact that in most cases it will loose to an apposing jitte. whats ur look on it?

and yea, the first deck DOES look kind of janky and like it was thrown togeather, with high spells/confidant? burn for 4 revealing a FTK or 3 with call or troll. the beauty of zoo/rg beats though is that it is so versatile in the card pool. there are soo many different combinations of creatures/other spells you can use in a deck and still have it do decent in a tournament.

[Citrus-God]

I like the idea of mangus of the scroll because he has legs and is targetable by rancor and can swing in (cursed scroll can't). The one thing that I HAVE always liked about cursed scroll is the fact that it is not a creature and doesn't die to creature hate/burn and the fact that it isn't dead against pro red. I like the mangus idea too though but it seems like he would get popped off before he would be that usefull (early game it would suck to draw a mangus wearas scroll can sit there and survive untill it is usefull..on the other hand mangus can swing early but will most likely be killed thus taking away the importance of his ability in the first place...i'm not saying one is better but thats my look on it.....do you guys think that wild mongrel is a must have in the deck or do you think that it is sub par?
on a side note, it bugs me that almost every aggro deck in legacy has to run jitte (excluding goblins) due to the fact that in most cases it will loose to an apposing jitte. whats ur look on it?

and yea, the first deck DOES look kind of janky and like it was thrown togeather, with high spells/confidant? burn for 4 revealing a FTK or 3 with call or troll. the beauty of zoo/rg beats though is that it is so versatile in the card pool. there are soo many different combinations of creatures/other spells you can use in a deck and still have it do decent in a tournament.

I know this is a god awful philosophy, but isnt it better due to the fact that Magus of the Scroll gets killed off by Fanatic, meanwhile Dark Confidant lives.... no, in fact, if the opponent is smart, he will kill your Confidant over your Scroll. So play Cursed Scroll instead.

And Wild Mongrel's a fine creature on my call, but in this deck, I find it hard that you would have dead cards with the draw power of Confidant. I think think you really need it, but it synergizes with Rotting Giant.

As for Jitte, how often do you people get into Jitte wars? Exactly, even Goblins plays Jitte too since their entire deck are just men. The reason for it is because of board domination in the aggro mirror. The Kamigawa block, they all ran 4 Jittes and even some ways of just rediculous stupid things like Godo just to win Jitte wars. In Kamigawa block, it was a way to turn a standard aggro-deck into a Midgame-esque deck. It would dominate the board with removal and having a higher quality and higher stat creature on the board. Even beaters in that format were having problems because of that card, as they can simply kill that beatstick or race it. Just saying, it can win Games against Goblins and more random aggro.

Also, it would be cool to talk about how having a lame little Confidant around can get you more land and men so you never run out. Taking four doesnt really matter because your opponent wont be touching you in the aggro mirror unless it's Gobs.

Alix Hatfield's builds pretty nice, then again, the Hatfield brothers are really solid deckbuilders. I would add Confidants in that list though, but then again, I think he was aiming to win more quickly than anything else.

[lukatron2]

actually I think alexs' deck was made in 2005 (I THINK it was before dark conidant came out). yea, I agree, jitte is AMAZING! I don't think that there is one pure aggro deck in the format that doesn't run it (besides goblins). It just steals games!

as for the zoo build, what do you think for a creature base? I was thinking something like this:

4 dark confidant
4 kird ape
4 grim lavamancer
2-3 troll ascetic
5-6 open slots.
I want to have some quality creatures as well as some of the best 1 drops available (kird ape, lavamancer). do you think scab-clan mauler deserves a slot? I want to establish a definate creature base for testing and this (I think) is a good base so far...any suggestions?

[Citrus-God]

actually I think alexs' deck was made in 2005 (I THINK it was before dark conidant came out). yea, I agree, jitte is AMAZING! I don't think that there is one pure aggro deck in the format that doesn't run it (besides goblins). It just steals games!

as for the zoo build, what do you think for a creature base? I was thinking something like this:

4 dark confidant
4 kird ape
4 grim lavamancer
2-3 troll ascetic
5-6 open slots.
I want to have some quality creatures as well as some of the best 1 drops available (kird ape, lavamancer). do you think scab-clan mauler deserves a slot? I want to establish a definate creature base for testing and this (I think) is a good base so far...any suggestions?

Mancer should be cut. Jitte fulfills that role better than Mancer when ti comes to board dominances. I think a better one drop is Sarcomancy and/or Carnophage. Why would your run Scab-Clan when theres Rotting Giant? I think that stats are way more important when it's fighting over the domination of the board. Zoo is a aggro an deck, but also a Midgame deck in the metagame clock.

[lukatron2]

I wanted to run rotting giant and not mauler, but the only reason I wasn't was due to the fact that I had 4 lavamancers. 4 of each would be WAY to reliant on the graveyard and I'm almost SURE I wouldn't be able to keep it full...cutting grim lavamancer and adding giant, the list looks something like this at the moment

lands 20

4 bloodstained mire
4 wooded foothills
4 badlands
4 bayou
4 taiga

creatures 20

4 kird ape
4 dark confidant
4 carnophage/sarcomancy
4 rotting giant
2 troll ascetic
2 open spot..(flesh reaver?...any ideas)

other

4 lightning bolt
4 chain lightning
4 rancor
4 duress
3 jitte
1 cursed scroll

sb:
3 krosian grip
3 phyrexian negator (good with sarcomancy) or flesh reaver
3 cabal therapy
3 withered wretch
3 diabolic edict

this build is meant for pure aggro. cursed scroll, jitte, and confidant help mid-game if it goes to long, but basically it is meant to win...fast, and the draw from confidant helps fill you up with land, and gives you extra burn/threats each turn. one strategy I like about the deck: is that if your opponent is holding one or maybe 2 removal spells and you have a ape with a rancor, confidant, and lets say a wretch, its a tough call for them. do they want to continue getting beat in the face for 4, or let me draw an extra card each turn?...any thoughts about the new list? I think it looks pretty solid.

[keys]

lukatron, your list is solid. I have only a couple suggestions:

For the 2 open spots, I think it would be smart to include Lavamancer, although he is hindered by your Rotting Giants. I Wild Mongrel instead of Giant so I don't have that problem.

Of course, Zombies can be all or nothing if you're also running Sarcomancy. You could still use Carnophage, and Mogg Fanatic is another option.

The SB is exactly what I would run, except -3 Negator and +3 Pyrostatic Pillar.

[lukatron2]

Thanks for the input keys. I think that I have to agree with you that troll might be too slow for this deck. I added him in as more of a midgame card cause he is such a house and wrecks things with jitte attatched. he's just SO good!...but I think you're right. he takes away from the early aggro so I think he will get cut. I'll test negator or maybe flesh reaver?

I'll test mancer and see how he works with the rotting giants.

as for river boa, I LOVE that card!, and he is such a good creature. I used to run him in my r/g beats but eventually cut him. The reason was id put him out turn 2, but I often needed to block w/him or regenerate him when they burn him, but without that much mana on turn 2, he can sometimes be a bad turn 2 drop. AFTER turn 2 however, i think he is a HOUSE!...I think i'll test him out and see how he does...personally I never liked wild mongrel and don't think that the card disadvantage is worth keeping him alive (at least in r/g maybe different with confidant though). He's overrated. I'll post a current list...has anybody been testing this deck on mws or anything? if anyone has the time, some testing and results would be appreciated! thanks again keys...

lands 20

4 bloodstained mire
4 wooded foothills
4 badlands
4 bayou
4 taiga

creatures 20

4 kird ape
4 dark confidant
4 carnophage/sarcomancy
4 rotting giant
2 grim lavamancer (or river boa)
2 flesh reaver or river boa

other

4 lightning bolt
4 chain lightning
4 rancor
4 duress
3 jitte
1 cursed scroll

sb:
3 krosian grip
3 phyrexian negator (good with sarcomancy) or flesh reaver
3 cabal therapy
3 withered wretch
3 diabolic edict

[Citrus-God]

Run Wild Mongel. They synergize with Rotting Giant better. Cut the Jitte for another fetchland, as feeding Rotting Giant and thinning your deck is awesome.

[keys]

I've been playtesting this a lot, and I've settled on a decklist that is extremely consistent.

The synergy between Confidant/Mongrel/Lavamancer is superb, to say the least. Mongrel is much stronger than River Boa along side Confidant, and he does a great job of feeding Lavamancer throughout the game; These three cards make the holy trinity.

The rest is all aggressively costed weenies, burn, and disruption.

4 Kird Ape
4 Carnophage
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Dark Confidant
4 Grim Lavamancer

4 Duress
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Magma Jet
3 Chain Lightning
4 Rancor
2 Umezawa's Jitte

4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Badlands
3 Taiga
3 Bayou
1 Mountain
1 Forest
1 Swamp

SB
4 Cabal Therapy
3 Naturalize
3 Pyrostatic Pillar
3 Withered Wretch
2 Diabolic Edict

The single Cursed Scroll was too random to help consistently. It may be a good source of colorless damage, but generally Lavamancer is better. I also found 3 Jitte to be too many, so I cut one. I only want to draw one, and not early in the game. This left room for more burn, specifically Magma Jet.

It might appear that with both Confidant and Carnophage that the deck might run into low life quickly. This is true, but it is less of a factor in practice. Carnophage and Kird Ape are the main targets for Rancor, and can swing for 4 on turn two, which is very important.

In the sideboard, Naturalize could be Krosan Grip if you fear Pernicious Deed. But I'm also not afraid of Tormod's Crypt, and I think that's the main reason to play Grip.

Sideboard plans:

Goblins
-4 Duress
-2 Chain Lightning
+4 Cabal Therapy
+2 Diabolic Edict

Threshold
-2 Carnophage
-2 Grim Lavamancer
-3 Chain Lightning
-1 Magma Jet
+3 Withered Wretch
+3 Pyrostatic Pillar
+2 Diabolic Edict

Solidarity/Storm combo
-2 Jitte
-3 Chain Lightning
-1 Grim Lavamancer
-1 Rancor
+4 Cabal Therapy
+3 Pyrostatic Pillar

Salvagers or Landstill/Loam Combo
-2 Jitte
-3 Chain
-3 Carnophage
-2 Lavamancer
+3 Naturalize
+4 Cabal Therapy
+3 Withered Wretch

Combo matchups are not great, but they're doable with maindeck Duress and Therapies to support game 2. This deck does, however, roll over everything Aggro/Control, which includes Threshold/Fish/Madness/Gro. The Goblins matchup is even if not slightly favorable- Lackey is not a problem, just watch out for Ringleader (name it with Therapy ASAP). But our creatures are bigger, plus Rancor/Jitte, and Confidant help to win the attrition war.

[umbowta]

4 Kird Ape
4 Carnophage
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Dark Confidant
4 Grim Lavamancer

4 Duress
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Magma Jet
3 Chain Lightning
4 Rancor
2 Umezawa's Jitte

4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Badlands
3 Taiga
3 Bayou
1 Mountain
1 Forest
1 Swamp

SB
4 Cabal Therapy
3 Naturalize
3 Pyrostatic Pillar
3 Withered Wretch
2 Diabolic Edict


I Like! It's like Detroit Zoo with new toys, namely Jitte, Bob, and, to a lesser extent, Magma Jet. Detroit Zoo ran the Diabolics in the main rather than in the board, which, with the current omnipresence of Threshold, a couple of Diabolics in the main might not be a bad idea.

[lukatron2]

I've been playtesting this a lot, and I've settled on a decklist that is extremely consistent.

The synergy between Confidant/Mongrel/Lavamancer is superb, to say the least. Mongrel is much stronger than River Boa along side Confidant, and he does a great job of feeding Lavamancer throughout the game; These three cards make the holy trinity.

The rest is all aggressively costed weenies, burn, and disruption.

4 Kird Ape
4 Carnophage
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Dark Confidant
4 Grim Lavamancer

4 Duress
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Magma Jet
3 Chain Lightning
4 Rancor
2 Umezawa's Jitte

4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Badlands
3 Taiga
3 Bayou
1 Mountain
1 Forest
1 Swamp

SB
4 Cabal Therapy
3 Naturalize
3 Pyrostatic Pillar
3 Withered Wretch
2 Diabolic Edict

The single Cursed Scroll was too random to help consistently. It may be a good source of colorless damage, but generally Lavamancer is better. I also found 3 Jitte to be too many, so I cut one. I only want to draw one, and not early in the game. This left room for more burn, specifically Magma Jet.

It might appear that with both Confidant and Carnophage that the deck might run into low life quickly. This is true, but it is less of a factor in practice. Carnophage and Kird Ape are the main targets for Rancor, and can swing for 4 on turn two, which is very important.

In the sideboard, Naturalize could be Krosan Grip if you fear Pernicious Deed. But I'm also not afraid of Tormod's Crypt, and I think that's the main reason to play Grip.

Sideboard plans:

Goblins
-4 Duress
-2 Chain Lightning
+4 Cabal Therapy
+2 Diabolic Edict

Threshold
-2 Carnophage
-2 Grim Lavamancer
-3 Chain Lightning
-1 Magma Jet
+3 Withered Wretch
+3 Pyrostatic Pillar
+2 Diabolic Edict

Solidarity/Storm combo
-2 Jitte
-3 Chain Lightning
-1 Grim Lavamancer
-1 Rancor
+4 Cabal Therapy
+3 Pyrostatic Pillar

Salvagers or Landstill/Loam Combo
-2 Jitte
-3 Chain
-3 Carnophage
-2 Lavamancer
+3 Naturalize
+4 Cabal Therapy
+3 Withered Wretch

Combo matchups are not great, but they're doable with maindeck Duress and Therapies to support game 2. This deck does, however, roll over everything Aggro/Control, which includes Threshold/Fish/Madness/Gro. The Goblins matchup is even if not slightly favorable- Lackey is not a problem, just watch out for Ringleader (name it with Therapy ASAP). But our creatures are bigger, plus Rancor/Jitte, and Confidant help to win the attrition war.

I like the updated list. have you been testing it a lot on mws or what? I haven't had the chance to be testing it a lot lately but about your comment on the lifeloss. I think you're right. It doesn't matter too much because the deck is going to establish early game dominance, and if you don't win by the time your life is super low, you're probably not going to win anyhow... Magma jet is sWEET! I would probably up the magma jet up to 4 and cut one chain lightning. although it will hurt you one more revealing it with confidant, it ensures you more card quality and you can put the land on top...plus most creatures in the format are either 2 toughness or more than 3 (with the exeption of blurred mongoose but he's untargetable anyhow). I like the build because it has a better match-up against combo than straight up r/g beats does, and confidant is SOOO good!

[umbowta]

In the sideboard, Naturalize could be Krosan Grip if you fear Pernicious Deed.
I fail to see how Grip is going to save you from Deed. If your opponent has cast Deed without the mana open to wipe your board, Naturalize would work. If they do have the mana open, Deed resolves, active player has priority and Deed goes boom while Grip is still in your hand.

I suppose if your unknowing opponent actually passes priority to you, Grip is good...if you happen to have the mana open to cast it. Once an opponent knows you're running Grip, this won't happen.

[Iranon]

Then, there's the not unlikely case that they only have 1 mana open but you have some more expensive permanents on the table, in which case they would probably wait for next turn to blow deed if they can afford it.
Some people might not expect Krosan Grip and wait until your next attack phase out of principle.

Whether that is relevant enough to give the nod to Krosan Grip, however, is a different question.

[umbowta]

Lukatron or keys, could you please update with a current list or are you going to continue to force me to discuss this deck on TheManaDrain. Sheesh.

[lukatron2]

my current list looks like this:

4 Kird Ape
4 Carnophage
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Dark Confidant
4 Grim Lavamancer

4 Duress
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Magma Jet
4 Rancor
2 Umezawa's Jitte
2 cursed scroll

4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Badlands
4 Taiga
4 Bayou
(or cut one of each dual land and run 1 of each basic [1 swamp 1 mountain 1 forest] its a little less suseptable to wasteland)
SB
3 Cabal Therapy
3 krosan grip (or naturalize)
3 Pyrostatic Pillar
3 Withered Wretch
3 Diabolic Edict

the cursed scrolls can be cut for more burn spells if you don't like them. Personally I like to have a late-game ongoing damage dealer that doesn't die to creature hate and gets around pro-red. also, I think it is safe to run 1 basic land of each color. try the build out, let me know what you think.

[Iranon]

Has anyone else experimented with Jagged Poppet, possibly in the place of equipment? It's a very solid 3-drop with a possibly gamebreaking ability.

Interestingly, it becomes a lot more devastating post-board agaisnt non-control matches. A Hellbent Handrape after a Pyrokinesis (the only non-red spells in the main are Mongrel and Confidant) crushes most Aggro. Against combo it means we still have a 4-turn clock when we play disruption rather than of offense turn one and two.

On the other hand, it is rather bad in the mirror and against red Thresh. While Poppet being the only 3-drop makes the drawback bearable, it is very relevant.

[umbowta]

Has anyone else experimented with Jagged Poppet, possibly in the place of equipment? It's a very solid 3-drop with a possibly gamebreaking ability.

Jagged Poppet is way to narrow in my opinion. The only matchup in which I would consider casting Poppet would be against Solidarity, and even then It doesn't do anything until Turn 4. Duress and Cabal Therapy are just better.

However, keys and I have been discussing the use of Call of the Herd as a 3 drop, but not taking out equips for it. Obviously, Jitte is awesome sauce and loves it's place in this deck. It gets even better when there are more doods to use it. The list we've arrived at is only a couple cards off of Lukatron's list.
In place of:
2 Cursed Scroll
1 Rancor
We're trying 3 CotH

Cursed Scroll seemed too random to be efficient/effective. Rancor is competing with Jitte for 5 slots and Jitte earns 2 for sure, leaving only 3 for Rancor. Since CotH is effectively 2 critters in one, there are 5 "pumps" for 26 creatures in that configuration while also packing in 8 burn spells and 4 Duress.

[keys]

I think I am leaning more towards Skyshroud Elite than Carnophage. Basking Rootwalla is another 1-drop I want to test out in that spot.

[lukatron2]

I think I am leaning more towards Skyshroud Elite than Carnophage. Basking Rootwalla is another 1-drop I want to test out in that spot.

I've run skyshroud elite for a LONG time now in my r/g beats, and I gotta say that he is AWSOME and a lot of the time ends up being a 2/3...but a lot of other matches he is simply a 1/1 (solidarity,mono-black,angel stompy, noob jank) and it is terrible! Also, people can play around him...when he's out your opponent kills him then starts dropping non-basics. I really like the elite in my R/G beats but I am going to test skyshroud ridgeback for a while and see how that goes (I know he's terrible) but I think the extra damage could help me better race combo. carnophage/jungle lion/ridgeback are garanteed to be 2/2 or 2/3 and I like that. Test the elite out and see how it goes.

[Iranon]

@umbowta:

I have to respectfully disagree, they fulfil completely different roles. I am not satisfied if I have to rely on a few discard spells thrown into a deck that lives and dies by the curve: If you start off with disruption, you set back your own clock, often enough to still lose the race.
This is where Poppet's ability to seal the deal regardless of life totals comes in; I did not mean it as an alternative to regular discard but as a supplement.

I'm not saying it's a must-include; an abundance of Burn outside an actual Burn deck is annoying and it has some antisynergy with equipment/pump that might not be immediately obbvious (usually, you can circumvent its drawback by playing it last, it's at the top of the curve anyway. However, this is less true if you also have equipment/Rancor in hand: you might need a body first, setting yourself up for card disadvantage).
If you ever pondered cutting/downsizing the support suite (possibly in favour of more burn spells) I heartily recommend it; otherwise it's an option that may or may not work well.


Call of the Herd sounds very solid, but in this deck I would probably want something with a larger impact if I run a 3-drop at all.

[umbowta]

@umbowta:
I am not satisfied if I have to rely on a few discard spells thrown into a deck that lives and dies by the curve: If you start off with disruption, you set back your own clock, often enough to still lose the race.
You don't need to start casting Duress/Therapy on turn one against High Tide, so I agree, drop a threat or two and then start ripping High Tides and Resets. Even if you see a Force, youv'e just cast Hymn for one black.
usually, you can circumvent its drawback by playing it last, it's at the top of the curve anyway. However, this is less true if you also have equipment/Rancor in hand: you might need a body first, setting yourself up for card disadvantage).
What drawback?. You drop Poppet on turn three. On turn 4 you slap Rancor on his fat ass, Bolt the Poppet in his face to drop your hand and get 'hellbent' then swing for five. Yippeee you win more bigger than before...and its only good against critterless decks.

[lukatron2]

So I finally decided to take my RGB ZOO deck to a tourney after playing RG beats for a long period of time and loosing to combo. I have been working on the list for a while but I made a couple of changes and it turned out pretty good for me. I went 4-0 and split for first beating:
1) janky goblins
2) sneak attack
3) solidarity
4) boros deck wins

nothing huge or anything but I was pretty pumped about beating solidarity (he's a really good player) and also pumped about going undefeated the first time I finally decided to play the deck...this was my list:

Land: 20

4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Bayou
3 Taiga
3 Badlands
1 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Swamp

monsters:

4 Dark Confidant
4 Kird Ape
4 Skyshroud Elite
4 Rotting Giant
2 Eternal Witness
2 Flame Toung Kavu

Other stuff:

4 Lightning Bolt
4 Magma Jet
4 Cabal Therapy
2 Duress
2 Umezawa's Jitte
4 Rancor

Sb:
4 Diabolic Edict
2 Duress
2 Pyrostatic Pillar
3 Tormad's Crypt
2 Krosan Grip
2 Flame Toung Kavu

I know the SB looks kinda random but it actually is really useful and practical. If I were to change anything I would probably try to make room for 1-2 more Grips...

[Citrus-God]

Only changes I would make are,

-1 Forest
-1 Mountain
-1 Swamp

+1 Taiga
+1 Badlands
+1 Bayou


Your deck is a super fast beatdown deck. Once you get your disruption to resolve, all you need to do is just drop dudes and bash face. Your clock is already super fast, so your may be better off playing Dual lands due to color sensitivity. Tempo is not a problem for you due to cc, and Wasteland is gonna hit you anyways.

Other than that, I love the deck. Great job on the undefeated goodness against good decks and players.

[gustoh]

4) boros deck wins

For the record... I would have smashed you with the other deck

LT...

[Nydaeli]

Some thoughts on lukatron's latest list:

- Was Eternal Witness good for you? It seems like the deck is too aggressive to really get good use out of it. I'd prefer something bigger like Burning Tree Shaman in that slot.
- Did you have problems with Skyshroud Elite ever being a 1/1?
- Did you ever have trouble activating Rotting Giant?

[Cavius The Great]

Watcher487 (Shane) Top8ed at the Mana Leak Open with something that resembled RGB Zoo. Maybe Watcher will be gracious to us and post his decklist once he sees this thread. :wink:

[Nydaeli]

Cavius: http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5221

[lukatron2]

Some thoughts on lukatron's latest list:

- Was Eternal Witness good for you? It seems like the deck is too aggressive to really get good use out of it. I'd prefer something bigger like Burning Tree Shaman in that slot.
- Did you have problems with Skyshroud Elite ever being a 1/1?
- Did you ever have trouble activating Rotting Giant?

- I totally know what you are talking about here. as for how he did for me, I establish my early army and do a bunch of damage and then he usually comes online turns 4-5 and gets me back any important business that went to the grave, and then presumes to beat down. He helped me in the solidarity match-up getting back cabal therapy, casting it next turn, and then flashing it. I really didn't think I would like him at first either, but so far he's been great! I'll let you know if the issue comes up where I'd need a bigger dude. I thought about Troll ascetic, Burning tree shaman, or flame toung kavu in his place.
- I did in the solidarity match-up, but this guy shines in other match-ups where an ordinary 2/2 would just trade with a goblin, so I really like the Elite a lot. He was actually supposed to be carnophage or sarcomancy but I switched them at the last minute.
- This was a close one. There was a time where I had to bolt my opponent during my first mainphase just so he could get in there (for the win). I think I'll cut him down to a three of because I KNOW he's going to get clunky in there.