I actually think Arid Mesa will be a 4x in my manabase, because I usually want to search for a basic plains or mountain before I want to search for a basic forest.
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I actually think Arid Mesa will be a 4x in my manabase, because I usually want to search for a basic plains or mountain before I want to search for a basic forest.
So, swap out Heaths for Mesas? Meh. Six one way, half a dozen the other.Quote:
Originally Posted by hungryLIKEALION
4x is way too much! I don't know about you but I can honestly say that with 4x heath and 4x foothills I never get mana/ coloured screwed. The mana base I play right now is as follows:Quote:
Originally Posted by hungryLIKEALION
4x Windswept Heath
4x Wooded Foothills
3x Taiga
3x Plateau
3x Savannah
1x Forest
1x Mountain
1x Plains
In my view, this runs like a dream. At most I would consider two (2) Arid Mesa for my build. However, that being said, I could see another player running three (3). Running four (4) however is manifestly excessive.
I run ten fetches, so I'd run 4 foothills, 4 mesas, and 2 heaths.
Nevertheless, still too many Arid Mesa's.Quote:
Originally Posted by hungryLIKEALION
Why is that too many arid mesas? Do you actually have any logic for that? It's certainly better than windswept heath, and if I'm going to run 10 fetches, I'd rather be able to more reliably fetch my basic mountain. With 4 foothills, 4 heaths, and 2 mires you have 6 R fetches. With 4 mesas, 4 foothills, 2 heaths you have 8 R fetches. That, in my book, is better.Quote:
Originally Posted by Thoughtseizer
I know the creature base for zoo is pretty tight, but is Goblin Guide worth testing? It's an unconditional 2/2 that acts as a free shock on the play. The drawback doesn't seem that harsh for Zoo, although it can help the opponent dig for solutions. There's also the ability to see what your opponent is drawing :laugh:.
If it is worth running, the question then becomes what cards would we cut for it? The zoo package of Apes, Natcls, Goyfs, Qasali's, Lavamancer(x3), KotR(x2). seems very stable. Perhaps Goblin Guide could be better than Kird Ape, since it's a better beater and allows you to play basic mountains in the early game without losing speed. Perhaps it could replace some some burn spells in a creature-heavy build.
What are your thoughts?
I really don't think Knight of the Reliquary belongs in zoo. Firstly, the three casting cost is not very attractive. Secondly, you would need to run wasteland and in an already tight and fragile mana base I don't see that being proactive. The rest seems very reasonable though.Quote:
Originally Posted by dearleader
Well just as a preliminary note I question 10 fetch lands in this deck. I think 8 is optimal and comfortable. If a mana base isn't broken don't try and fix it. However, I don't see playing 10 as being fatal, just not optimal or attracting to me with 4 stifles main deck being packed in a lot blue based decks in my metagame. That being said, with the addition of a new playable fetch land for zoo, perhaps 10 can be beneficial to zoo in the near future.Quote:
Originally Posted by hungryLIKEALION
In my view, green is a very important component for zoo right now based on the competitive metagame and dropping a first turn nacatl followed up by a second turn pridgemage or goyf is paramount to the decks early tempo and aggression. With moon effects from blood moon and Magus being problematic for zoo (especially early) I think a forest to fuel a pridemage or a grip (or teeg for that matter) is a more prudent move then getting a mountain which you will soon have an abundance of any ways. In my view, if not for anything, windswept heath is a more versatile and more needed resource then mesa's for this deck to get you out of difficult situations. I am not saying don't play mesa, I am just saying don't play 4 when you have 3 different fetch lands to choose from in addition to the much needed 1 of each basic and the duals. I think a balance of 3 each would suffice for your land base.
Yes, Goblin Guide is worth testing. There is a chance that it could replace Kird Ape.Quote:
Originally Posted by dearleader
Unless you're running a funky version of Zoo that's heavy on green, you should max out the Arid Mesas and Wooded Foothills before you touch the Windswept Heaths. And unless you're splashing for black, do not play Bloodstained Mire.
Not sure why people are questioning the inclusion of the Mesas at all.
I am not questioning the inclusion of mesa's I am questioning the quantity (namely x4) when considering the other fetches, basics and dual lands this deck runs; 2-3 should suffice.Quote:
Originally Posted by lordofthepit
It is not a matter of "running heavy green" it is knowing that your splash of green is what gets you out of trouble (grip & pridemage) in a potentially really bad match. The basic forest is the key basic land for moon effects and hence for this reason heaths are needed; this evidently means you don't have enough space for 4 mesa's because this deck should only run 20-21 land max.
I concur with the Bloodstained Mire as that is an obvious given.
You dont need wastelands at all with the knight of the reliquary, Horizon Canapy thought works well with The knight.Quote:
Originally Posted by Thoughtseizer
In order to truly abuse Knight of the Reliquary wasteland should be used. Moreover, I stand by my initial position that 3 cc is too much for what he does and for zoo decks in general. Knight is not even close to being good enough to make the cut in a tier 1 zoo deck list. What are you going to cut, Tarmogoyf or Qasali Pridemage? Indeed, both would be very bad moves. River Boa, Watchwolf and Woolly Thoctar are all better in zoo then the knights and with the exception of a metagame boa, I would not play or recommend any of those.
Pridemage replaced Watchwolf, and Thoctar isn't that good because of how color hungry he is. As for River Boa, how is that at all good? it's far outclassed by the deck's other 2-drops, and the regeneration isn't even relevant in Legacy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Thoughtseizer
How can you say 3cc is too much for what he does yet suggest that Thoctar (also a 3cc that doesnt do anything extra and is inherantly harder to cast) is better? Ive been running 2 Knights for a while now and I absolutely swear by them. They are almost guaranteed to be 4/4s minimum when you drop them and in one game they proved to be a clutch big beater (it was a mirror so our critters were trading/standoffing all match) that won me the round.Quote:
Originally Posted by Thoughtseizer
This is the list of creatures Im running now for reference:
4x Goyf
4x Nacatl
4x Pridemage
4x Watchwolf
2x Figure
2x Knight
Edit: Also, I dont run a single wasteland. Although, thats partially influenced by a basic heavy meta back home. That and I personally think its a horrible idea in this deck. Its dead early (for mana purposes), it chokes out your own tempo if you use it to blow up their lands, and it doesnt make nacatl bigger.
First off if you even bothered to actually read I clearly stated that I do not play nor recommend watchwolf or thoctar. However, I would probably play them over Knight nevertheless. Knight is 3cc and nothing in a competitive zoo deck list right now needs to be 3cc or higher. This is because there are so many better options with 1cc and 2cc cards. The following cards are all substantially better then Knight of the Reliquary in any tier 1 competitive zoo deck:Quote:
Originally Posted by jimmerz213
Tarmogoyf
Qasali Pridemage
Goblin Legionaire
Kird Ape
Wild Nacatl
Isamaru, Hound of Konda
Grim Lavamancer
Now bear in mind this is in totality on a pound for pound basis. Yes, Knight maybe better then wild nacatl in terms of card power and ability. However, when you consider the casting cost of 1 vs. 3 plus two different colours to cast knight, my point emerges. Knight just doesn't make the cut in my view when the acute zoo player has more efficient and quicker options. This is not Rock or Haterator where you have birds and elves to bring it out turn 2.
No offence intended and this is strictly constructive criticism but even with knight aside, figure of destiny and especially watchwolf are very sub-par and really should not have slots in this deck anymore when you consider the much faster, stronger and efficient options of creatures I listed above. Your version of "zoo" is pretty slow considering your total lack of 1c drops. I think it is quite perplexing that your list of creatures lack all of the following pivotal 1 drop creatures: Kird Ape, grim lavamancer and/ or Hound of Konda. How do you apply efficient early pressure and establish tempo and aggression out of the gate with the line up of creatures you listed above?Quote:
Originally Posted by jimmerz213
I've been running Knight as a 2 of since right around when alara reborn came out and have been nothing short of extremely happy with him. You don't need to run Wasteland to "abuse" him; He abuses himself by being so fucking huge that nothing else on the table can stand up to him.
Here's the big thing that people don't understand about zoo in the current metagame; This deck, when built for speed, CAN goldfish on turn 4. However, you will NEVER win that quickly through the disruption other decks provide unless they were already fucked to begin with. When a deck forces your turn 1 play, dazes your turn 2, and then drops a goyf with counter backup for your swords, you're gonna realize that your deck has a lot more trouble keeping its goyfs in play than other decks in the format, and many games do come down to whoever plays more goyfs wins. Having additional creatures that can go toe to toe with goyf is exactly what you need to be able to continue on your assault. And the other big thing I think people miss is what KoTR's role is in this deck; You're not trying to curve out on 3 (Though doing so is certainly not a bad thing). I often hold Knight in my hand until I have no other spells to cast (Or I need his big body to punch through my foe's defenses/stabilize in the mirror or against other aggro), and play him turn 5-6-7, from where he can easily take over any given game. And yes, having a 3 cost threat to play is very useful against blue decks packing spell snare and CB where your 1 and 2 cost threats are easily dealt with. When you're playing against a deck like CB and they counter/swords your goyfs and answer with their own, you're going to need some way to even the tide. KoTR does exactly that.
Like, really, I shouldn't even be arguing about this, since I already know I'm right. KoTR has won me an inordinate amount of games (Seriously, it's over 50 at least in tournies at this point), and NOT having some way to back up your tarmogoyfs is just asking to be outclassed by the opponent's threats. In a format with force, daze, and swords, trying to say that you can just kill them every game before they stabilize is ignorant.
Figure of Destiny is in the same boat; He's a cheap beater who can get in for damage early, but can also be a beast when you need him to be. He certainly does have a place in the deck, though I've never liked him as a four of.
And finally, regarding arid mesa, I don't know about you, but I tend to play around wasteland a lot more than around blood moon, and I believe that mesa is better for this purpose. But really, it's not even worth arguing about because the difference is so minuscule that it's ridiculous you've chosen to take such a stand against it.
Now that that's over...
I don't like Goblin Guide better than Kird Ape in this deck, but he could be viable in a more goyfsligh-like build. GG is fast, yes, but KA is more reliable and less likely to hand your opponent the game by getting them through land clumps. If I was going to play GG I'd probably still play KA and play a list that looks something like this;
4 nacatl
4 Guide
4 Kird Ape
4 Goyf
4 Pridemage
4 Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
4 Helix
3 Price of Progress
3 Flameblast
2 Path to exile
20 Land
But really, that's more of a goyfsligh deck than zoo anyway.
Some numbers from Deckcheck.
In the past year, there are zero Zoo decks running Goblin Legionnaire in the maindeck.
In the past three months, there are eight Zoo decks running a non-zero number of Knight of the Reliquary in the maindeck.
Twelve out of like fourteen RGW Zoo decks from the past three months ran some form of the following configuration:
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Kird Ape
3-4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Qasali Pridemage
0-2 Woolly Thoctar
0-3 Knight of the Reliquary (only one list ran three)
0-2 Gaddock Teeg (only in two decks)
0-2 Vexing Shusher (only in one deck)
0-3 Figure of Destiny (only in one deck)
So, yes.
The optimal configuration for RGW Zoo is thus:
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Kird Ape
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Qasali Pridmage
0-2 Woolly Thoctar
0-2 Knight of the Reliquary
I feel KotR is much better than Thoctar, but I guess it's still personal preference.
*edit* Just to clarify, the only reason I stopped counting KotR at three months was because I was way too lazy to look farther back. I cut off at 05/02/09. If you wanted to go back farther than that, I'm sure you'd find more decks that support these numbers.
*edit 2* Also, in case you wanted to look at the data yourself, simply go to deckcheck.net, and enter in the card you're interested in finding in the (Advanced) Search bar at the top of the page. Do note that it pulls all lists across all formats, so simply look at the left column to make sure you're looking at Legacy lists.
Hah hah, Skyshroud Elite... I love that guy. I wish he was still an awesome one drop :(
Well here in our meta it still seems like a good drop. Every opponent i played in the last legacy tournament played duals or other nonbasics. ttQuote:
Originally Posted by hungryLIKEALION
I´ve read the last pages of this thread. Just to make sure i get this right. When you play KotR he gets powered up by the fetchlands you played before, right? You arent using his ability, nor a land tool box in your deck, right?
She gets powered up by any lands that are in your graveyard for any reason. Obviously, playing a bunch of fetches helps make her big. She's usually a 4/4 or bigger (sometimes a lot bigger) by the time she enters the battlefield. You can either start swinging with her as soon as she untaps, or, if the board is stalled, you can give her +2/+2 each turn by using her ability to get a fetchland or Horizon Canopy. The Canopies are especially nice because you can turn excess lands into cards in hand. The reason you don't play Wastelands is because they don't help you cast anything. They also have bad synergy with Price of Progress. Instead, you play Horizon Canopies to smooth out your own manabase. They're pretty amazing, actually.Quote:
Originally Posted by flrn
Some observations after playing this deck a while:
Manabase:
To me, wasteland is useless. You are trying to kill your opponent, I mean literally bring their life total to 0 in as few turns as possible. I have been the victim of Canadian Thresh's, Merfolks and other lists LD tactics. What this deck needs is the most stable and fastest way to assure 1 of each color of mana with a green and a white mana available at the same time (Pridemage, and KoTR). If you have a early steady manabase short of playing vs. combo, or an early CB/Top lock I generally win.
PtE:
Originally I looked at it and thought the card was not playable in legacy. Given the speed of this deck and the fact that we don't destroy land, or play daze anyway I prefer it to swords for this deck.
KotR:
If you win before you can drop it that's great but as someone else stated above you need goyf's 5&6 because vs. Thresh decks it's normally about who has more goyfs and your normal goyfs are probably not going to stick.
Lavamancer:
I can't believe people talk about cutting this guy. Ever play against merfolk?
Pridemage:
WOW, I don't remember when 1 utilityesque card change the game so much. He single handedly gave this deck a reasonable MD answer to CB, Shackles, Standstill, etc. as well as breaking Goyf Stalemates.
All in all, in a comboless meta I can see why this is truly a DTB.
EDIT: Regarding Skeggi's comment is domain (or at least black for DC) zoo a reality now with enemy fetches as well? As I can see DC taking the slot of the 2 sylvan libraries.
Good observations, except I really can't agree with this one. In reality, Swords to Plowshares shines against weenies like Goblin Lackey, but against bigger threats Path excels by helping you get to your goal of 0-20 as fast as possible. Even an additional five life to your opponent can mean the difference between one extra turn. Really tough call. In my opinion the deck runs enough burn to provide weenie removal and Path to Exile is great for bigger threats.Quote:
Originally Posted by jazzykat
Yep. This deck is perhaps the one exception to the "Plow > Path" rule for those exact reasons. There doesn't seem to be much disagreement on that topic anymore.Quote:
Originally Posted by MMogg
P.S. Thanks, Skeggi.
Actually, (Domain) Zoo is a DTB in the Dutch meta, where ANT is also a DTB. The match-up isn't that favorable towards ANT as people traditionally think, as Gaddock Teeg and Ethersworn Canonist stop ANT from going off, while fast aggro sometimes makes sure Ad Nauseaum fizzles while being cast at 9 lives or less (especially if you give your opponent a surprize Lightning Bolt).Quote:
Originally Posted by jazzykat
Hehe, one of the first times I played Zoo I faced a Lord of Extinction! :laugh: That made up my mind pretty quickly.Quote:
Originally Posted by Volt
Seriously i don't think anyone actually cares what Thoughtseizer posts anymore, not like he had much creditability in the first place. But anywho.
I was thinking about my list, and i like Sylvan Library, but i just think it takes away from what the deck wants to do. I'm giving the same thought process i had with Cursed Scroll. I love the card, but i don't wanna wait until later to get what i pay mana for. Idk it's a good card and idk if I'll cut it, but I'm kinda thinking about it, and for what i have no idea. Just some thoughts.
I think the new RW fetch should replace Heath. Red is more important to the deck, and so is white in some situations. I always wanna have my basic Plains open for the PTE on some gay moon effect or something. I guess I'm just stating what everyone else is thinking. The manabase seems stronger with the card as well. I'd probably go 4 Foothills, 4 Mesa, 2 Heath. Seems strong as hell.
I really like the new cat creature, but not for Legacy. I see it being pretty good for Extended and Standard though. AKA, formats without Wasteland, Stifle, Daze shenanigans. And idk about you guys, but RGW Zoo seems INSANE this next Extended Season. Pridemage is even more nuts.
By 'the new cat creature' you probably are referring to this one:Quote:
Originally Posted by Loxodon Baileyarch
Scythe Tiger :g:
Creature - Cat
Shroud
When Scythe Tiger enters the battlefield, sacrifice it unless you sacrifice a land.
I really like it has Shroud, but when looking for a creature that costs :g:, beats for 3 and has Shroud, Nimble Mongoose is probably the better option.
Got a few good laughs out of thoughtseizer there, I must say he's rather pathetic.
But anyhow on to something more important: that is the number of fetches. Quite frankly I'm a fetchland extremist. Everyone knows fetches are the best lands ever printed and besides optimizing your mana they give you threshhold and feed hungry lavamancers and or Knights of the Relinquary. My very first thought when seeing the new Mesa is that now I can run 12 awesome fetchlands and my manabase will be almost perfect with 17 red 16 white and 16 green sources and 9 ways to find every single basic land. How's that for consistency ey?
12 fetches
1 mountai
1 plains
1 forest
2 Taiga
2 Plateu
1 Savahna
So yes I've heard it all before fetchlands suck against stifle that's why people don't like to run as many as possible. But regardless of playing 8,10 or 12 fetches the chances that your gonna have to pop one on turns 1 or 2 (when getting stifled really hurts most) are very high so why not just fuck stifle and go for the manabase that offers you the largest amount of redundancy?
Also in decs like thresh the fact that at some point you won't find any more lands to fetch can actually be rather relevant but when playing zoo I must confess I'm not afraid of the situation where I can't find any more lands cause if that's happened my chances of winning have slipped into percentile digits anyways.
While many of you might think to yourself mackaber's talking crap and don't know shit about Magic. I'd like to point out that I'm not the only person on this planet who holds fetches in such high regard. While running more than 8 fetches in legacy is somewhat uncommon (but not unheard of, just go check out DerimaginäreFreunds thresh lists) it's been standard in Extended Boros/Zoo decs for over 3 years to run at least 11 fetches and sometimes even more than 12 even though stifle has been a metagame concern there for quite some time as well albeit no as relevant as in Legacy.
So tell me: why not run 12?
Disagree a bit. In the case of Moonscrew (that's right, I think I just coined a term for Blood Moon antics), I prefer Windswept Heath since everything will be red afterwards, the Health lets you equally search for the necessary Forest or Plains.Quote:
Originally Posted by Loxodon Baileyarch
Yeah, especially the drawback. Too bad this guy isn't a Goblin:Quote:
Originally Posted by Skeggi
Scythe Tiger :r:
Creature - Goblin-Cat
Shroud
When Scythe Tiger enters the battlefield, sacrifice it unless you sacrifice a mountain.
His father was a lonely guy as the lone Goblin on a cat ranch.
You know what i mean. A bit unnecessary post, kinda like this one, so I'll make it not so.Quote:
Originally Posted by MMogg
I don't see why this deck is scared of Dragon Stompy either. I've maimed the deck everytime I've played against it. Chalice sucks but i don't see any other problem cards. Moon can suck if you're on the play and fetch wrong, otherwise, they don't run geddon effects like Stax, and then you fetch your basics. Our creatures are almost always bigger, and Goyf trumps every creature in their deck. Plus Grudge from the board is hilarious.
Anywho, fuck Goyf, and Top. Haha. I'm totally a hater.
I think some serious testing needs to be done regarding the manabase. Since I believe most of us at least play 9 fetches that we can all agree that at least 1 of the new RW fetches is necessary. I would also like to remind you guys who are proposing to run 12 fetches along with horizon canopy you will have way more fetches/non-fetchable lands than actual fetchable lands. I wonder if this might become a problem vs. wastelands and stifles?
Running 12 fetches obv necessitates running no canopys see my last post for an example manabase.Quote:
Originally Posted by jazzykat
I've always played 10fetches in Zoo,and when I played Sligh I even played 12.
With the arrive of the new R/W fetchland,I find it very reasonable to run 12fetchlands,since the only reason I wasnt doing that now was being bloodstained mire not good enough to run more then2.
It helps to filter your deck,it feeds lavamancer,it feeds KotR,it fixes mana,and its in some ways wasteland proof. There is no problem at all with running more fetches then actual lands,because by playing 8-9 non fetchlands u will have more then enough.
Like mackaber alrdy stated,stifle is NOT a reason for not running more fetches. If u play less fetches u can still get stifled,and ur opening yourself to even more wasteland effects,which can really hurt this deck.
Btw,the only real current metagame deck running stifles is TT.
As for Sylvan Lybrary, I've tested it out good and even in some tournaments now,and I must say the results are quite impressive.This deck doesnt really care about its own life total,and against certain MU's,u can draw 1-2 extra cards after they cleared ur board/outtempo'd u. The synergy it has with Lightning Helix is just a big plus.
I think most pple on this thread agreed on this being the best creature base ATM:
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Kird Ape
4 Grim Lavamancer(rly MVP,especially with all the Merfolk in the meta here)
4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Tarmogoyf
2 KotR
@Skeggi. I'm gonna test Domain Zoo now aswell,since i really like the power of dark confidant/tribal flames,which are for me the only reasons u can find for running that deck above RGW Zoo. Not to mention the deck gets boosted by the new fetchlands.
Let me rephrase that then: A suboptimal choice to win the World Championships.Quote:
Originally Posted by Volt
Anyways what's up with 12 fetchlands? The only reason I can come up with to play less is that you wan't to play some Canopys.
Yes, I'd rather play some Canopies. 8 fetches + 3 Canopies is pretty close to perfect.Quote:
Originally Posted by mackaber
I played at Moscow Open tournament held on 08/30 and did rather good, losing at top8. I don't know if the tournament has already been processed by the Source's DTB caretakers (no lists spotted on deckcheck yet), so I'll list top8 below.
Here's my list:
4 Wild Nacatl
3 Kird Ape
1 Figure of Destiny (tried him instead of 4th Ape, it went perfect, I plan on playing 2 Figures from now on)
3 Grim Lavamancer
3 Qasali Pridemage (should have been 4-of, more on this later)
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Knight of the Reliquary (I am still unsure if the deck needs ANY of 3-drops, but anyway, Knights did their job well)
2 Path to Exile (I certainly need more of these)
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
3 Lightning Helix
3 Price of Progress
2 Fireblast (I feel it is the right number)
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Windswept Heath (I know having too few 'actual' lands is risky, but I opted to maximize Knights' impact on the game that day, and Lavamancers didn't mind it, either)
1 Savannah
2 Plateau
3 Taiga
1 Mountain
1 Forest (This may sound like a sacrilege, but I don't want to play basic Forests anymore, it hurts more than I thought of)
1 Horizon Canopy (did surprisingly well, I am thinking of second one)
1 Wasteland (I count this as a spell, not land, I'd play 21 lands w/o Wasteland)
3 Krosan Grip
2 Sulfuric Vortex (much to my dismay, I seldom wanted to see these in my hand, should have been something else)
2 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Vexing Shusher (I think 3 would cut it)
2 Pithing Needle
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Volcanic Fallout (took them above Pyroclasms due to instant-speed, and dealing uncounterable damage to the dome doesn't hurt)
On my way to top, I defeated Kithkin (don't laugh, they made it into top eventually), Survival, Ichorid (must have been 'my' day, it is next to unwinnable, but I got lucky with Relics and a Fallout), Merfolk and CounterTop w/white (they say it had Progenitus too, but lucky things again, I haven't seen the hydra), losing to Aggro-Loam (Devastating Dreams). There was an ID, too, but that's irrelevant (although I wouldn't mind playing those Merfolk in 1/4).
Then I lost to our eventual winner, and it all went like this:
1. BR-rogue w/Helm of Obedience
2. Elves w/Progenitus (feat. Survival of the Fittest)
3-4. Merfolk
3-4. UBg Faeries
5-8. Kithkin (you see, Faeries and Kithkin, thought you could escape them?)
5-8. Aggro-Loam
5-8. Survival
5-8. Naya Zoo
Ah, I forgot to add we managed to gather not 20, not 30, but 72 people that day.
The deck looks solid, Knights deserve their two slots, and I see it fit to shift towards more creature-heavy version, cutting Lavamancers for more Figures and Pridemages. I also want 3rd PtE. On the other hand, it would be stupid not to main PoP in our meta, so I am quite perplexed about which way to choose.
I must say I haven't tested Sylvan Library yet, so that's another story. And I'm gonna play 4 Mesas, that's for sure ;-)
I really really like Goblin Guide. I'm definitely going to do some serious testing with him in my Isamaru/singleton FoD spot. He seems insane in a format with low-ish land count. He seems better in RG but he does what Zoo wants him to as well. That's my two cents.
Goblin Guide has the same mana cost as Kird Ape, but has a smaller body and a worse drawback. Kird Ape is one of the deck's weakest creatures. Why play Goblin Guide?