[Primer/Deck] Zoo

[Seraphix]

I played Zoo in the SCG Legacy Classic yesterday and got 15th place. There were around 120 players. List:

Creature Spells (20)
4x Noble Hierarch
4x Wild Nacatl
2x Qasali Pridemage
2x Scavenging Ooze
1x Gaddock Teeg
1x Voice of Resurgence
4x Knight of the Reliquary
2x Thalia, Heretic Cathar

Noncreature Spells (17)
4x Green Sun's Zenith
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Swords to Plowshares
4x Punishing Fire
1x Sylvan Library

Lands (23)
4x Wooded Foothills
4x Windswept Heath
2x Savannah
2x Taiga
2x Plateau
1x Forest
1x Plains
1x Dryad Arbor
3x Grove of the Burnwillows
1x Karakas
2x Wasteland

SB: 3x Surgical Extraction
SB: 1x Gaddock Teeg
SB: 2x Pyroblast
SB: 1x Wear / Tear
SB: 1x Reclamation Sage
SB: 2x Crop Rotation
SB: 2x Ethersworn Canonist
SB: 1x Bojuka Bog
SB: 1x Umezawa's Jitte
SB: 1x Chandra Pyromaster


Tournament went as follows:

Round 1: Canadian Threshold (2-1)
Round 2: Czech Pile (2-1)
Round 3: Death & Taxes (2-1)
Round 4: Aggro Loam (1-2)
Round 5: Czech Pile (2-0)
Round 6: Sneak & Show (0-2)
Round 7: Grixis Control (2-0)
Final Record: 5-2

The only bad matchup I encountered was Sneak & Show, which I regrettably punted a winnable game 1 against.


I hadn't played this deck for a few months and made a several changes to the maindeck based on how the new meta has shaped up:

1. Replaced 3rd QPM with Voice --> Voice is very good vs Czech Pile & Grixis Delver

2. Replaced Elspeth/Chandra with 4th Fire --> Fire is great right now, especially in game 1

3. Replaced Skarrg with Wasteland #2 --> Skarrg is best in matchups we're already fine in, Wasteland has more utility overall

I honestly didn't put enough thought into the sideboard, which is functionally the same sideboard I play in Maverick. In hindsight this wasn't optimal and I would play a different sideboard next time.

[Hanni]

I played Zoo in the SCG Legacy Classic yesterday and got 15th place. There were around 120 players. List:

Creature Spells (20)
4x Noble Hierarch
4x Wild Nacatl
2x Qasali Pridemage
2x Scavenging Ooze
1x Gaddock Teeg
1x Voice of Resurgence
4x Knight of the Reliquary
2x Thalia, Heretic Cathar

Noncreature Spells (17)
4x Green Sun's Zenith
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Swords to Plowshares
4x Punishing Fire
1x Sylvan Library

Lands (23)
4x Wooded Foothills
4x Windswept Heath
2x Savannah
2x Taiga
2x Plateau
1x Forest
1x Plains
1x Dryad Arbor
3x Grove of the Burnwillows
1x Karakas
2x Wasteland

SB: 3x Surgical Extraction
SB: 1x Gaddock Teeg
SB: 2x Pyroblast
SB: 1x Wear / Tear
SB: 1x Reclamation Sage
SB: 2x Crop Rotation
SB: 2x Ethersworn Canonist
SB: 1x Bojuka Bog
SB: 1x Umezawa's Jitte
SB: 1x Chandra Pyromaster


Tournament went as follows:

Round 1: Canadian Threshold (2-1)
Round 2: Czech Pile (2-1)
Round 3: Death & Taxes (2-1)
Round 4: Aggro Loam (1-2)
Round 5: Czech Pile (2-0)
Round 6: Sneak & Show (0-2)
Round 7: Grixis Control (2-0)
Final Record: 5-2

The only bad matchup I encountered was Sneak & Show, which I regrettably punted a winnable game 1 against.


I hadn't played this deck for a few months and made a several changes to the maindeck based on how the new meta has shaped up:

1. Replaced 3rd QPM with Voice --> Voice is very good vs Czech Pile & Grixis Delver

2. Replaced Elspeth/Chandra with 4th Fire --> Fire is great right now, especially in game 1

3. Replaced Skarrg with Wasteland #2 --> Skarrg is best in matchups we're already fine in, Wasteland has more utility overall

I honestly didn't put enough thought into the sideboard, which is functionally the same sideboard I play in Maverick. In hindsight this wasn't optimal and I would play a different sideboard next time.

Any reason for Swords to Plowshares over Path to Exile?

[Fatal]

Any reason for Swords to Plowshares over Path to Exile?

Triggering fire and is nobo with wastelands?

[Hanni]

Triggering fire and is nobo with wastelands?

Hadn't thought about the synergy with Fire, although with only 2 Wasteland, the non-bo there seems less relevant than the non-bo of giving the opponent life in a deck playing Wild Nacatl.

[Seraphix]

Hadn't thought about the synergy with Fire, although with only 2 Wasteland, the non-bo there seems less relevant than the non-bo of giving the opponent life in a deck playing Wild Nacatl.

As Fatal pointed out, the primary reason to play Swords to Plowshares in this build is its interaction with Punishing Fire. It's more of a midrange deck than a classic aggro deck so the life gain isn't as relevant. In a list without Punishing Fire, I would probably prefer to play Path.

[Hanni]

As Fatal pointed out, the primary reason to play Swords to Plowshares in this build is its interaction with Punishing Fire. It's more of a midrange deck than a classic aggro deck so the life gain isn't as relevant. In a list without Punishing Fire, I would probably prefer to play Path.

Makes sense, but it makes me question Wild Nacatl. I mean, if you cut Nacatl for Mother of Runes, all of a sudden the deck looks like a Punishing Maverick deck...

Aside from being able to call the deck Zoo, what benefit does Nacatl provide over Mother of Runes?

[11poster925]

Makes sense, but it makes me question Wild Nacatl. I mean, if you cut Nacatl for Mother of Runes, all of a sudden the deck looks like a Punishing Maverick deck...

Aside from being able to call the deck Zoo, what benefit does Nacatl provide over Mother of Runes?

the nacatl is an aggressive threat with heavy exalted status. its not a stoneblade maverick deck presses more with hierarch & knight of the reliquary top end. looks dope, how about some fireblasts? :]

[Hanni]

the nacatl is an aggressive threat with heavy exalted status. its not a stoneblade maverick deck presses more with hierarch & knight of the reliquary top end. looks dope, how about some fireblasts? :]

Okay, legit answer. Exalted Nacatl does sound pretty good.

Deck looks super soft to combo g1. I'm not sure Gaddock Teeg does enough on his own. Improving the combo matchup seems pretty simple to do postboard with hatebears, though.

[juzamjimjams]

Anybody got the list that made it on cam at EW?

[Seraphix]

Makes sense, but it makes me question Wild Nacatl. I mean, if you cut Nacatl for Mother of Runes, all of a sudden the deck looks like a Punishing Maverick deck...

Aside from being able to call the deck Zoo, what benefit does Nacatl provide over Mother of Runes?

The reason to play this deck over Punishing Maverick is that it has a better matchup against Grixis Delver and Czech Pile-style decks.

Maverick is a slow, synergy-based strategy that can be effectively combatted by efficient disruption out of these decks. Its also vulnerable to cards which have become prevalent like Kolaghan's Command, Liliana the Last Hope (starting to appear in maindecks), and Izzet Staticaster.

Zoo has more individually threatening cards and can match these decks on the efficiency axis with a 1-mana threat in Wild Nacatl and additional 1-mana interaction in Lightning Bolt. Nacatl is seriously great against these decks. Tarmogoyf has fallen out of favor so Wild Nacatl is almost always the biggest creature around. Against Delver its very realistic to race without drawing any interaction, which Maverick can almost never do. You're also less vulnerable to sweepers since you can present a decent clock with fewer creatures.

Okay, legit answer. Exalted Nacatl does sound pretty good.

Deck looks super soft to combo g1. I'm not sure Gaddock Teeg does enough on his own. Improving the combo matchup seems pretty simple to do postboard with hatebears, though.

The game 1 combo matchups aren't great. But aside from Gaddock Teeg, Scavenging Ooze, Qasali Pridemage, and Knight --> Wasteland/Karakas all do some amount of lifting against various combo decks. There is also the possibility of killing them before they can kill you which is facilitated by Bolt.

[IamHANDSOME]

Is Zoo actually still a living deck in 1.5? Delver just pushed this deck out of the meta over the years. I personally think if you build an aggressive but consistent build you're still better than most of the fair decks. Just against the unfair ones you probably get smashed. Atleast against Storm you have Eidolon main now. As I mentioned in an other thread I played this deck for 2 years back in 2009-2010 in 1.5 and Extended (nowadays Modern). With consistent I mean cards like Steppe Lynx and Vexing Devil do not belong there. For Steppe Lynx existed a dedicated Boros list. Even Goblin Guide was never the first choice for Zoo since you could not afford to give the opponents CA like in Burn where it really doesnt matter since Burn is even faster and more aggressive than Zoo. I would love to play this deck again, I am thinking about something like this:

3 Grim Lavamancer
4 Kird Ape
4 Wild Nacatl
3-4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
4 Tarmogoyf
2-3 Qasali Pridemage
1-2 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
2-3 Lightning Helix
2-3 Price of Progress
1-2 Fireblast
1-2 Atarka's Command
1-2 Sylvan Library
4 Arid Mesa
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Windswept Heath
3 Taiga
2 Plateau
1 Savannah
1 Mountain
1 Forest

White is being splashed for Pridemage, Helix and Knight and a couple of Path to Exile in the board. I do like Eidolon main since he can win against Storm which was Zoos worst matchup I remember. Sometimes 1-2 Turn until he gets removed preboard could be good enough to close it out with Nacatl and Burn spells. 2-3 Pridemage main are also something you will need preboard against D&T, Stoneblade and a Chalice of the Void. These cards just destroy Zoo otherwise. I also like Helix since it can be good in mirror matches and against Burn, also you will need it sometimes for racing a Delver, 2-3 could be played. Furthermore Helix has good synergy with Sylvan Library since you can digg more easily with it. Atarka's Command is again a good addition for Rgx creature because it pumps up and makes 3 damage additionally. Youll play 1-2 of them. The rest are standard Burn spells, 4 Bolt and normally 4 Chain are something I always want to have. The rest I splitted up in 3 PoP and 2 Blasts, you will never cast more than 2 Blast in Zoo so 1-3 should be played, depends how aggressive you want to play the build.

I could also imagine to cut the Helix, Pridemage, and Knight for 4 Goblin Guides and making the deck Rg with the white splash only for a 3/3 Nacatl and 2-3 Path to Exile in the board (pretty important card against Reanimator I guess). List would look more like this:

2-3 Grim Lavamancer
4 Kird Ape
4 Goblin Guide
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
3 Price of Progress
3 Fireblast
2-3 Atarka's Command
1 Sylvan Library
4 Arid Mesa
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Taiga
2 Pleteau
2 Mountain
1 Forest

What I dislike about this list is the missing Savannah. I know the "dream draw" of Zoo was and will always be T1 Nacatl and 2 more Nacatl T2. Problem with that is you need double green which is only possible with Taiga and Savannah.

Are there any Zoo players out there and what are your current experiences with it? How does the deck perform against all the Delver builds and 4c control builds?

[Megadeus]

I think if you want a fast zoo list right now you want Ghor Clan Rampager and Narnham Renegades

[Barachai]

I played Zoo in the SCG Legacy Classic yesterday and got 15th place.
I honestly didn't put enough thought into the sideboard, which is functionally the same sideboard I play in Maverick. In hindsight this wasn't optimal and I would play a different sideboard next time.

Can you elaborate on how you'd change the sideboard?

[Seraphix]

Can you elaborate on how you'd change the sideboard?

I'd consider going down to 1 Crop Rotation, or cutting both Crop Rotations and Bojuka Bog entirely. I'm not sure Crop Rotation is powerful and flexible enough with only Bog, Karakas, and Wasteland as your main targets. Generally, I only play 2 Crop Rotation side in a deck that also has Stage/Depths main.

If cutting 1 Crop Rotation, I'd replace it with either a 3rd Canonist, Thalia GoT, or Phyrexian Revoker. If further cutting the 2nd Crop Rotation and Bog, I'd most likely replace these with 2 Blood Moons.

I'd also consider reconfiguring to an Enlightened Tutor sideboard including at least Grafdigger's Cage, Phyrexian Revoker, Canonist, and Blood Moon.

[Megadeus]

BMJHagan went undefeated and split finals of top 8 with a Steppe Lynx Bauble list today. Pretty sick. Breathing life into the best deck in the format

[haganbmj]

My Cradles are out getting signed, UR Delver was boring, I didn't want to borrow Mono-U Show and Tell from Megadeus, so I played this again at a legacy monthly.

Stuff (27 + 15 = 42)	Lands (18)	Sideboard (15)
4 Steppe Lynx 4 Wild Nacatl 4 Narnam Renegade 3 Tarmogoyf 3 Qasali Pridemage 1 Gaddock Teeg 3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben 2 Renegade Rallier 3 Ghor-Clan Rampager 4 Mishra's Bauble 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Chain Lightning 3 Price of Progress	4 Wooded Foothills 4 Windswept Heath 2 Arid Mesa 1 Karakas 2 Savannah 2 Taiga 1 Plateau 1 Forest 1 Mountain	1 Black Vise 1 Rancor 1 Forked Bolt 3 Pyroblast 1 Umezawa's Jitte 2 Containment Priest 2 Smash to Smithereens 3 Faerie Macabre 1 Hooting Mandrills

R1 - W - 2-1 - Mostly Green Eureka w/ Chalice
R2 - W - 2-1 - UWR Stoneblade
R3 - W - 2-0 - BUG Delver
R4 - ID - WR Death and Taxes

Top 8 - W - 2-0 - Maverick w/ Leovold
Top 4 - W - 2-1 - Jund
Finals - ID - WR Death and Taxes

- Smash came up against Stoneblade by killing a Batterskull before blocks.
- Double Steppe Lynx with 3 fetches was backbreaking against Maverick.
- Sideboard is way, way, way off.
- Basic Mountain might be better off as a Plateau?

[Xod]

Congratz!

Any thoughts about what to change in the sideboard?

I like the black vise against control decks.

[zebhillard]

Top 4 - W - 2-1 - Jund

Damn that Rancor'd Ape, damn it straight to hell!

But yes, I still support -Mountain, +Plateau.

[haganbmj]

Damn that Rancor'd Ape, damn it straight to hell!

But yes, I still support -Mountain, +Plateau.

As for the sideboard I don't really know. The Vise/Rancor/Forked Bolt were just there because I had them and I always sleeve a Rancor when I can. Forked Bolt is probably fine if you expect D&T and Deathrite decks. I do think I want a Hooting Mandrils in the mainboard, it's very solid in the way that playing Gurmag is in modern Death's Shadow. It's possible this deck could get away with a couple, but I don't want to hamper the Goyfs much.
Faerie Macabre was to avoid conflicts with Thalia, but that's debatable too.

[zebhillard]

I do think I want a Hooting Mandrils in the mainboard, it's very solid in the way that playing Gurmag is in modern Death's Shadow. It's possible this deck could get away with a couple, but I don't want to hamper the Goyfs much. Faerie Macabre was to avoid conflicts with Thalia, but that's debatable too.

Macabre is fine. There was an odd shortage of the random reanimators that usually show up. I think 1-of Mandrills would be good in the main, you could even trim a Goyf for it so the issue crops up less frequently. The miser's Gaddock Teeg looks a little off without a GSZ to fetch it, though.