Chalice Zoo

[kinda]

I've been messing around with this. Has some neat interactions like collar/crucible+geopede, crucible+canopy. Chalice is of course very, very powerful and I like building around it. O-ring is weak and should probably be replaced.

Lands
2 [B] Plateau
3 [FUT] Horizon Canopy
1 [JGC] Maze of Ith
1 [TE] Wasteland
3 [TE] Ancient Tomb
4 [FUT] Grove of the Burnwillows
1 [A] Taiga
4 [ZEN] Arid Mesa
2 [JGC] Windswept Heath
2 [R] Savannah
1 Kor Haven

// Creatures
4 [ZEN] Plated Geopede
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
3 [WWK] Stoneforge Mystic
3 [CFX] Knight of the Reliquary
2 Qasali Pridemage

// Spells
1 [DS] Sword of Fire and Ice
2 [BOK] Umezawa's Jitte
4 [SH] Mox Diamond
1 [WWK] Basilisk Collar
3 [10E] Crucible of Worlds
3 [ZEN] Punishing Fire
4 [MR] Chalice of the Void
2 cataclysm

sb:
4 leyline of sanctity (vs. combo, burn, burn heavy zoo)
3 Aether vial (counterbalance/thresh, maybe goblins)
3 tormod's crypt (dredge, reanimator, lands)
3 Null Rod (new artifact decks like kuldotha or affnity, combo)
2 Krosan Grip (the above decks and counterbalance)

Edit: -1 sword of fire and ice, +1 kor haven, -2 o-ring, +2 qasali pridemage

Edit 2: -1 stoneforge, +1 grove of the burnwillows, -2 gaddock teeg, +2 cataclysm

[trivial_matters]

Chalice of the Void and Gaddock Teeg don't play well together, but I'm sure you're aware of that. A card to consider, maybe in place of Gaddock Teeg, would be Qasali Pridemage.
I haven't tested the deck myself, but I could see 22 lands being too little for a set of Mox Diamonds. I'm not sure about Crucible of Worlds either, maybe you could explain in detail why you're playing it.
Goblin Sharpshooter seems good only with Basilisk Collar.

[Admiral_Arzar]

This deck needs MOAR WASTELAND. If you're playing Crucible there's really no reason to not run it. Have you considered Lightning Helix? It's a versatile burn spell that dodges CoTV.

[Mystical_Jackass]

Not really sure about the deck. You're sort of introducing inconsistencies into a deck that's built around being one of the best top-decks out there. So you can't Chalice-1 on turn one consistently, and Chalice-2 is out of the question?

[kinda]

Ok, I updated the deck cutting a sword and o-rings, for another land a qasali pridemage. The deck isn't as consistent as zoo but it's still very consistent. As long as you have a creature and an equipment on the tabe you're good. You can get turn one chalice a lot via 4 mox's and 3 tombs and it just crushes most decks. It's still good vs. non vial deck in the mid game, and is obviously sided out vs. vial on the draw. With 19 creatures now and 16 at 2 I will put vial in the board for against blue.

[brianw712]

Seems like Armageddons would be a good fit. Has good synergy with Mox Diamonds, Crucibles, and Knights. Tombs help you accelerate it out too.

[Whippoorwill]

First thing worth noting is that you have only 2 sources total for Artifact/Enchantment removal. I would suggest 2-3 more in the side at the least.

Your only creature removal seems to be Punishing Fire if you don't count equipment. Relying on 5 mana to cast twice to kill a Goyf or anything else with 3+ toughness is terrible when you have access to StP & Path. I realize that goes against your Chalice @ 1 plan, but there's plenty of creatures that are played with 3+ toughness.

I don't understand why you would run Kor Haven over a) Maze #2, b) Wasteland #2, c) Grove #4. Grove should be an automatic 4 of if its in your colors and you're using the Punishing Fire engine.

Ancient Tomb seems pretty terrible in this deck. Outside of the artifacts, you're better off with this as a land that adds a single mana. I'd replace these with the remaining Wastelands/Grove. Alternately, if you want to keep the Tombs, you may want to look into higher cc stuff like Elspeth & Ajani (Vengeant). Armageddon (as suggested) could be good as well as Cataclysm.

Chalice/Counterbalance @2 kills your deck. You have a total of 3 cards (KotR) that can do anything if that happens. Crucible lock can stop your opponent til they play basics, but you have no way to get yourself out of the lock or kill them without Knight.


Its an interesting idea, but at the same time you're cutting yourself off of lots of good cards as well with the Chalice plan. And if Chalice is the priority, why play this over Meandeck MUD which can hit 2 mana on turn 1 more reliably?

[GGoober]

My only question is: Is dropping Wild Nacatl and Grim Lavamancer (and Bolt but let's just forget bolt) worth it to play Chalice @1 in a deck that is aggressive and tries to beatdown?

Most important question: Is Chalice in this deck stronger than Wild Nacatl? Being a Chalice-aggro player, I can tell you if Zoo is on the draw and leads with Wild Nacatl I usually tend to be in bad shape but if I led with Chalice shutting their Nacatl, they are always not in a bad shape.

[kinda]

Alright, thanks for the comments I updated the deck. I added the 4th grove, and changed the sb to deal with relevant decks that could be problematic. I don't want to play meandeck mud since that deck rolls over to combo g1, is inconsistent, and people are starting to play null rod. Im not sure if cataclysm is the right call...it might go back to o-ring or journey to nowhere.

@ metal: I hate playing decks that auto lose to combo. Also, chalice (as you know if you play stompy) is just so destructive against so many decks.

[brianw712]

2 Taiga
1 Kor Haven
2 Wasteland
3 Misty Rainforest
2 Savannah
1 Plateau
4 Ancient Tomb
1 Forest
1 Plains
4 Windswept Heath
2 Maze of Ith
3 Horizon Canopy

4 Tarmogoyf
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Terravore

4 Chalice of the Void
3 Dueling Grounds
4 Mox Diamond
2 Crucible of Worlds
3 Firespout
4 Journey to Nowhere
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant

Sideboard:

1 Firespout
4 Leyline of Sanctity
4 Tormod's Crypt
3 Null Rod
3 Gaddock Teeg

I've had some success with this recently on MWS. Thoughts?