Naya Vengevine

[Mr. Safety]

I still think a Zoo variant is possible in modern, but the power level needs to be stronger than it has been in the recent past. A Rg Hollow One/Vengevine deck made waves in 2017 piloted by Julian Grace Martin at an SCG open, going 10-0 initially in the swiss before going 0-4 in his last four rounds. It was impressive at what it did, but seemed just a little bit off optimal. I was perusing some older modern lists and reading an article from Ross Merriam (way back in 2017, link here>>>https://www.starcitygames.com/articl...Vengevine.html). The biggest takeaway from that article was putting Wild Nacatl into the deck to make the deck more aggressive and have access to white sideboard cards. Sold.

I always thought the 1-drops in the Rg Vengevine were kind of pathetic (Insolent Neonate) or anemic (Swiftspear in a deck that wants a ton of creatures to trigger Vengevine.) I wondered what I could do with actually good creatures like Wild Nacatl and the Burning Tree/Bushwhacker combo, which conveniently triggers Vengevines. I have since come around to Insolent Neonate, which has become a very good enabler and a passable threat. Menace isn't irrelevant and the discard outlet happening at any time, at a cheaper cost than Bloodrage Brawler, makes it leagues better. I called this one 100% wrong. I am still using Kird Ape over Monastery Swiftspear for the same reason as before: too few spells to trigger prowess. I am using Emissary/Bushwhacker to go wide rather than Become Immense/Temur Battle Rage to go all-in on one threat. I could see going back to the all-in blast if wipers get more prevalent in the metagame (Anger of the Gods, Supreme Verdict, Terminus) but until then the swarm attack seems stronger. There are still lines of attack where getting multiple one-drops into Bushwhacker is enough to win games. If I switch over to Become Immense and Temur Battle Rage then Swiftspear goes strait in for Kird Ape.

On Street Wraith: it really puts a lot of pressure on using my life total as a resource to go fast. However, I think this is a necessary evil to enable Hollow Ones, which have been outstanding. Triggering Vengevine returns with 4/4's for 1, or even 0, has been nuts. Goldfishing has resulted in one game doing 25 damage by turn 3. This won't happen very often, but I have attacked on average for 9 damage by turn 2. I have found that sometimes waiting one turn makes it go from only a few damage t2 to overwhelming lethal t3. This is now my window and goal to hit, turn 3 wins. The ancillary benefit of adding Street Wraith is pure velocity paired with Faithless Looting and Neonate. I churn through much more of my deck than I should for a Naya zoo deck. This enables easy Hooting Mandrils, and if the metagame shifts Become Immense or even Grim Lavamancer (which is also a potential sideboard card.)

Overall, the deck has a slightly less powerful incremental agro plan but more reliable combinations of busted turns. One thing I believe strongly is that Ross Merriam nailed the white splash for Wild Nacatl and sideboard cards.

Update: I tried a RUG variant with Birds of Paradise and Bazaar Trademage, which was disappointing. Trademage lands too late to enable early, busted turns. If this deck is to compete it needs to be explosive turns 2-3. Even a t2 Trademage wasn't enough in most cases, losing too many cards on the effect unless I had exactly multiple Vengevines or Hollow Ones. Back to Naya version with Wild Nacatl.

New list 8/5/19:

4x Insolent Neonate
4x Wild Nacatl
1x Kird Ape
4x Burning-Tree Emissary
4x Reckless Bushwhacker
4x Vengevine
4x Hollow One
3x Hooting Mandrills
4x Street Wraith
2x Ghor-Clan Rampager
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Faithless Looting

4x Windswept Heath
3x Arid Mesa
3x Scalding Tarn
1x Wooded Foothills
2x Stomping Ground
2x Sacred Foundry
1x Temple Garden
1x Forest
1x Mountain

Sideboard
2x Destructive Revelry
2x Stony Silence
3x Path to Exile
2x Tormod’s Crypt
2x Lead the Stampede
4x Leyline of Sanctity



Original List piloted on 3/23/19:

4x Experiment One
4x Wild Nacatl
4x Kird Ape
4x Burning-Tree Emissary
4x Reckless Bushwhacker
4x Vengevine
4x Hellspark Elemental
3x Bloodrage Brawler
2x Hooting Mandrills
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Faithless Looting
1x Lightning Axe

4x Windswept Heath
3x Arid Mesa
3x Scalding Tarn
1x Wooded Foothills
2x Stomping Ground
2x Sacred Foundry
1x Temple Garden
1x Forest
1x Mountain

Sideboard
2x Alpine Moon
2x Destructive Revelry
3x Path to Exile
2x Stony Silence
2x Surgical Extraction
1x Tormod’s Crypt
2x Lightning Helix
1x Domri Rade