[Deck] GRW Maze Zoo

[ReAnimated]

After reading Nihil's thread on Root Maze I went and made a rough list of a GRW Zoo deck ( Name suggestions are welcome ).

Land x 23
3x Wooded Foothills
3x Windswept Heath
4x Taiga
3x Savvanah
2x Plateau
3x Forest
2x Mountain
3x Wasteland

Creatures x 18
4x Kird Ape
4x Gaddock Teeg
4x Tarmogoyf
3x Skyshroud Elite
3x Elvish Spirit Guide

Spells x 19

4x Root Maze
3x Seal of Fire ( can be Lightning Helix or Bolt )
4x Swords to Plowshares
3x Price of Progress
3x Sylvan Library
2x Umezawa's Jitte


Im at shool right now so I'll write up the Explinations and Board when i get home.

[Nihil Credo]

No. Fetchlands. Go down to two colours if you have to, but playing fetches + Maze is just shooting yourself in the foot.

[Mordenkain]

Since you haven't written any explanations and stuff for the deck yet, this could be wrong, so bear with me.
Anyways, as far as I can see, this is the problems I see:

#1
The first thing strikes my eyes are your manabase vs. MD Price of Progress. Not good. You will be burning yourself as much as your opponent, and maybe even more because you will be wasting his non-basics also (which also conflicts with MD Skyshroud Elite). Another intern conflict in the deck would be 3 colors + wasteland, while still trying to have enough basics to not die to your own Price of Progresses.

#2
The creature base seems bad to me. Card by card:
Kird Ape: Well this is a nice choice, no complains here really.
Gaddock Teeg: To me, GT is more of a SB card against combo board control. The most widely played decks (Thresh and Gobbos) isn't really affected much him. I agree he is a house against the right deck, but hes more of a SB card to me.
Tarmogoyf: Well, you don't really have enough ways to feed him imo, but everyone and their mother is running goyf nowadays, so I guess i'll just shut up about this one.
Skyshroud Elite: It has really bad synergi with wasteland, and even more game 2 when he knows you play Price of Progress, so he will be fetching basics like a madman, to shut down 3 essential cards in your deck. I think Skyshroud Elite is a good card, but he doesn't seem good here.
Elvish Spirit Guide: Why? Your curve stops at 2cc, extra mana seems bad and unnessecary. Also you run 18 creatures, 3 of which is mana, in a fucking zoo deck?!

#3
Root Maze. You said you read about root maze in a thread here on source, and you went to build a deck. Maybe im just dumb and blind, but I don't see much ways to abuse Root Maze. It hurts yourself as much as your opponent. Meh.

#4
Last thing would be only 2 Jittes. This is an amazing card, why not run more? Seriously, I don't get it.

A concluding thought could be that it looks like to me you haven't put much thought into this. But only time will when we see your card explanations. Time will tell.

- Mordenkain

EDIT: Damn you Nihil. :(

[Finn]

No. Fetchlands. Go down to two colours if you have to, but playing fetches + Maze is just shooting yourself in the foot....and 3 colors with Price of Progress requires extra fetchlands in place of duals. So it seems that this deck is flawed from its core.

[Top Deck]

Seems you have a load of enchantments so why not?

1) drop in 4 rancors
2) drop in 4 untargetable enchantress for massive card draw

and I think you should be set. :laugh: :cool:

Oh yaw cut the price of progress for rancors, and cut the elvish spirit guides for the argothian enchantress

[TheDrunkDwarf]

Name suggestion: Amazing Zoo

[Happy Gilmore]

No. Fetchlands. Go down to two colours if you have to, but playing fetches + Maze is just shooting yourself in the foot.

I like it although Red doesn't impress me all that much.

4 Gaddock Teeg
3 Isamaru
4 Skyshroud Elete
4 Tarmogofy
3 Saffi
2 Savannah Lions

3 Jitte
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Root Maze
4 Mana Tithe/Orim's Chant
4 Edge of Autumn

4 Flagstones
4 Savannah
1 Temple Garden
3 Horizon Canopy
2 Forest
2 Plains
4 Lanowar Reborn

[Barook]

I like it although Red doesn't impress me all that much.

4 Gaddock Teeg
3 Isamaru
4 Skyshroud Elete
4 Tarmogofy
3 Saffi
2 Savannah Lions

3 Jitte
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Root Maze
4 Mana Tithe/Orim's Chant
4 Edge of Autumn

4 Flagstones
4 Savannah
1 Temple Garden
3 Horizon Canopy
2 Forest
2 Plains
4 Lanowar Reborn

That list doesn't look bad, but a few questions:

- Where's Rancor? You run enough efficient 1cc 2-power drops to make it good

- What is Saffi for and why do you run it over Mother of Runes ? Protection against mass removal? :confused:

- Edge of Autumn - why?

- Llanowar Reborn looks like another case of "The danger of cool things". I don't think that the mere presence of Root Maze is a justification to run it, let alone 4 copies.

- You run tons of legends - where's Karakas?

- With Karakas (which should be included) and your low curve, why not adding AEther Vial? (ok, the deck looks more and more like a variant of Death & Taxes) It helps you to recover from your own Root Maze much faster and isn't affected by it at all.

[bigbear102]

First of all, Price is fine in an aggro deck with lots of duals, because your opponent should be lower in life than you, and it is used as finisher.

Now, on to the deck:

Fetches and Root Maze are not friends. I agree that this deck should be slimmed to 2 colors to eliminate fetches. Add shocklands to make up for the lack of fetches. Adding white for Swords and Teeg seems poor to me, I would cut it.

Root Maze is good once he cuts Wastes and Fetches. It just has to not hurt you to be good against the format.

@Top Deck: I'm going to ignore bad suggestions. Seriously. Enchantress in a deck with 12 enchantments? Not good.

@ Happy: I like your deck a lot. Seems to be much better built and streamlined. I think you should add ESG though. It lets you drop everything on turn 1. Land>Isamaru + ESG>Root Maze is a really really good start.

Edge of Autumn is really good with Flagstones. I don't know if its worth it though, something that should be tested I guess.

Karakas might actually be good here, and I would cut LLanowar Reborn down to like 2-3. Seems a bit much for a citp tapped land, you won't always have maze.

[Nihil Credo]

Wasteland is actually improved by Maze, since from once you drop it their fetchlands become targets, whereas without Maze they could just use them to grab basics (i.e. why Wasteland went out of favour in the first place).

[ReAnimated]

Sorry guys I tought of this while i was sitting in Tech class and yeah it was rough but it's a start.

I liked Happy's idea of cutting red for just a GW build I'll be working from his list at this point.

@Batora - Your deck has more of a control base and this is a STOMPY deck :rolleyes:

@ESG - He was included for nice starts like BigBear said Ismaru, Remove ESG, Root Maze is hot.

@Happy - Edge of Autumn? I don't see it , correct me if I'm wrong. Also i think ESG > Lanowar Reborn the +1/+1 is alright but I'd rather pump out another threat than just beef up my weenies.

And Could a mod change the name to Amazing Zoo? Thanks DrunkDwarf

[Happy Gilmore]

Sorry guys I tought of this while i was sitting in Tech class and yeah it was rough but it's a start.

I liked Happy's idea of cutting red for just a GW build I'll be working from his list at this point.

@Batora - Your deck has more of a control base and this is a STOMPY deck :rolleyes:

@ESG - He was included for nice starts like BigBear said Ismaru, Remove ESG, Root Maze is hot.

@Happy - Edge of Autumn? I don't see it , correct me if I'm wrong. Also i think ESG > Lanowar Reborn the +1/+1 is alright but I'd rather pump out another threat than just beef up my weenies.

And Could a mod change the name to Amazing Zoo? Thanks DrunkDwarf

Edge of Autumn and Flagstones make up for the fact that you do not run Fetchlands or card draw. Edge of Autumn also provides the key sorcery which will pump goyf even more. The mana excelleration might be relevant but I cant tell yet. And Llanawar Reborn is an Idea I would like to test since it makes every creature in your deck bigger and wins in the Tarmogofy battles. And I figure that if your going to run Rootmaze why not play something that is better than a forest? Since they both come into play tapped.


turn one savannah, Rootmaze.
turn two llanowar Reborn, Isamaru or Elete is a really fast clock.

[dude 666]

I tried and tested the G/W version of the deck, and honestly, it was not very impressive. The idea looks really cool on paper, but it seems gaddock is the only game it has against control or combo. I tried to splash blue instead of white and this is what i came up with:

Land/Mana (23):
4 Tropical Island
4 Breeding Pool
6 Island
3 Forest
1 Faerie Conclave <----these slots still in testing
1 Treetop Village <----
4 Elvish Spirit Guide

Creatures (12):
4 Serendib Efreet
4 Riftwing Cloudskate
4 Tarmogoyf <----he was not impressive in testing at all

Enchantments (4):
4 Root maze

Instants (15):
4 Spell snare
4 Remand
4 Hoodwink
3 Stifle

Artifacts (6):
3 Tangle Wire
3 Sensei's Divining Top

This was designed to be an aggro/control tempo deck. The sideboard is non-existant right now but I'm sure it would include pithing needle, engineered explosives, and chill (necesary for the burn and goblins matchups).

Card Choices:
4 Remand- this acts as a time walk in this deck, mandatory
4 Spell Snare- i tried it out in testing, and it turned out to be incredibly versatile
4 Hoodwink- at first youre thinking, wtf is this doing here, but this is a huge tempo card, especially with root maze out
3 Stifle- i was testing this slot out, and stifle is there for general utility
3 Tangle Wire- goes along with the theme of the deck, has been good to me
3 Top- provides the much needed card parity
4 Rootmaze- self-explanitory
4 Serendib- provides a clock at a decent mana cost
4 Cloudskate- similar to hoodwink, except on a 2/2 flying body
4 Tarmogoyf- everyone is playing it, I really have no other reason to play it
The manabase is pretty obvious, breeding pools and manlands are there to further abuse root maze

Cards considered but not in the deck:
Force Spike
Parallax Tide
Ankh of Mishra
Rishadan Port
Rishadan Cutpurse
Rishadan Footpad
Force of Will
Aether Vial

[ReAnimated]

Hmm interesting has the TangleWire + Rootmaze thing been workign out well?

and WTF no froce of will with 20+ blue cards???:confused:

[dude 666]

Tangle Wire has been an abolute MVP in testing, and FoW was tested, but for some reason it never really shone.

What do you think of winter orb? It seems pretty sick with root maze, especially against control.

[ReAnimated]

Winter Orb seems like a hawt idea espcially with Hoodwink and Riftwing Cloudskate.

I'd also take out Remand for Force.
1U - Counter and put back in there hand

Free - Counter and He/She doesn't have it agian

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[dude 666]

I'd also take out Remand for Force.
1U - Counter and put back in there hand

Free - Counter and He/She doesn't have it agian

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Remand would be the very last thing I would take out of this deck. Like I said earlier, it acts as a time walk, and replaces itself. Force causes card disadvantage, and while it is probably the best counter in the game, I was not too impressed with it.

If you must have it though, I would cut Hoodwink or Stifle for it, or maybe a creature.

[ReAnimated]

I wouldn't cut creatures cause you only run 12 ( 14 If you include the manlands). Hoodwink is a good card in this deck IMO cause like you said it's a nice tempo card. I would say you cut 3 Stifles + 1 Spell Snare ( or 3 Snare + 1 Stifle depending on your meta )

Also i think the man-lands are a great idea but I'd run 2 Villages over the 1 Conclave / 1 Village split.

Have you tought of a side yet? I was thinking something like...
3-4 Crypt
2-3 Stifles
2-3 Snares ( Depends on your meta )
3-4 E.E
2-4 Needle
Maybe some more bounce.

[dude 666]

I would include Winter Orb and Chill in the sideboard. Winter Orb is great against control, and has great synergy with the rest of the deck. Chill provides the much needed boost against goblins and burn, because both are really bad matchups.

[ReAnimated]

Uhm Goblins is on the decline so i dont think the chills are nesscessary, I may be wrong , and Winter Orb does seem good.

I'm thinking

3-4 Crypt ( For the ichorid MU )
4 Winter Orb
3 Krosan Grip
3 Stifle/Spell Snare
1-2 Needle ( This slot I'm not so sure )

[HdH_Cthulhu]

What do you think about Tsabo's Web it cantrips and it shuts fetchlands and mishras down...

It cantrips, but is it the 2 mana investment wroth?

[dude 666]

I did some testing, and I'm not liking the creatures at all. The Cloudskate is good, but tarmogoyf and serendib have not been performing. They should be replaced with some sort of disruption, or at least some sort of utility creature. The only ones i could think of are rishadan cutpurse/footpad, and tradewind rider (which seems too slow).

My most recent list as of now is:

4 Tropical Island
4 Breeding Pool
6 Island
3 Forest
3 Rishadan Port
1 Faerie Conclave
1 Treetop Village

4 Fow
4 Remand
4 Hoodwink
4 Spell Snare
4 Stifle

4 Serendib Efreet
4 Riftwing Cloudskate


4 Root Maze
4 Top
4 Tangle Wire


I also wanna test out force spike

[FakeSpam]

You know what would be really hot with Root Maze?

Back to Basics.

[dude 666]

You know what would be really hot with Root Maze?

Back to Basics.

Then we would have to screw with the manabase to accomodate it. It would have to be pretty much all basics, which would lead to a lot of manascrew. Also, fetchlands would suck with root maze.

[FakeSpam]

Then we would have to screw with the manabase to accomodate it. It would have to be pretty much all basics, which would lead to a lot of manascrew. Also, fetchlands would suck with root maze.

um? I was thinking two colors. What do you need nonbasics for anyway?

[dude 666]

Well I dunno, it just seems that only having forests and islands would lead to a lot of mulliganning. It would mean no Tropical Island, Breeding Pool, Rishadan Port, or manlands. Test it, and get back to me, I would be glad to hear it worked out fine for you.

[ReAnimated]

Cutting Goyf seems TERRIBLE it helps so much in the Gobo's MU and takes care of opposiong Goyf's as well. I tested earlier vs RGB Zoo the goyfs saved the MU for me. DO NOT CUT GOYF NO MATTER WHAT.

@Port: With Root Maze Port seems too slow too function like you want it too this is why I cut wasteland in my list.

[Jak]

Well I dunno, it just seems that only having forests and islands would lead to a lot of mulliganning. It would mean no Tropical Island, Breeding Pool, Rishadan Port, or manlands. Test it, and get back to me, I would be glad to hear it worked out fine for you.

Why none of those? Do they not still get you a main color with B2B out? They will still do fine.

[ReAnimated]

I think he means that the Non-Basics we use won't be good at all so we'd have to cut them. And i think B2B isn't good it fits more of a mon color deck (Thus why it was played in old MUC)

[dude 666]

Why none of those? Do they not still get you a main color with B2B out? They will still do fine.

I'm not quite sure where you're going with this Jak. Back to Basics says nonbasic lands don't untap, which would render 3/4 of the manabase useless, even more so with a rootmaze out.

On another note, Force Spike sucks, and Stifle is best left in the board. I also dropped Top, because with a lack of shuffling effects it kinda sucks. I replaced it with Portent.

Also, I'm testing a very weird version out right now that uses Wall of Roots and Tradewind Rider.

[ReAnimated]

Hmm idk about Tradewind Riders/ Wall of Roots I still think the beat down creatures are the best way to go. I also dropped Riftwing for Boomerangs.

And I agree with you about the Tops i replaced them with B.Storm maybe Ponder idk yet.

[dude 666]

Hi everyone, I've been working on this deck and I overhauled the creature base completely; I don't know yet if this was the right thing to do.

My list as of now is:
4 Tropical Island
4 Breeding Pool
6 Island
2 Forest
2 Faerie Conclave

4 Portent
4 Remand
4 Hoodwink

4 Root Maze
3 Tangle Wire
4 Aether Vial
2 EE

4 Rishadan Cutpurse
4 Rishadan Footpad
4 Wall of Roots
3 Tradewind Rider
2 Venser

SB:
4 Chill
4 Crypt
4 Propaganda
2 EE
1 anything

The list is very different from what it started as, and the deck has become much more mid to late game.

On that note, the most important thing this deck needs to do is survive the early game, and it relies heavily on root maze for that. I racked my brains for any other cards in the 1-2 (maybe even 3) cc range that would put a sufficient damper on the game, but could not come up with anything else.

The creatures were chosen to work well with vial (vial was actually added later), and they mostly act as ld. It's always good to vial out a footpad or cutpurse EOT when the opponent is tapped out.

Another thing I think this deck is missing is a decent counterbase, I think Mana Leak would do the job pretty well.

The weakest slots would probably be some of the creatures; Venser has been good at times, but I didn't find him terribly impressive. Any other creatures with cool utility effects would be largely appreciated.