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Thread: Top 8 with R/G/W/u Big Zoo @JupiterGames August 21st

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    Top 8 with R/G/W/u Big Zoo @JupiterGames August 21st

    So I just got back from top 8ing @ Jupiter Games, the Tournament had 56 people. There were 6 rounds. I've been jumping between decks lately, selling almost my entire collection of cards and building Grixis Faeries. That deck was good, but I sold it for this Zoo list. It's basically the same exact list that won the Japanese Legacy Champs with suboptimal Fetches. This is the list I played.

    4 Arid Mesa
    3 Windsweapt Heath
    2 Wooded Foothills
    2 Taiga
    2 Plateau
    1 Savannah
    1 Tropical Island
    1 Volcanic Island
    1 Forest
    1 Plains
    3 Wasteland
    1 Skarrg, the Rage Pits

    4 Wild Nacatl
    3 Noble Hierarch
    3 Grim Lavamancer
    4 Qasali Pridemage
    4 Tarmogoyf
    4 Knight of the Reliquary

    4 Lightning Bolt
    4 Chain Lightning
    4 Path to Exile

    2 Sylvan Library
    2 Elspeth, Knight Errant

    SB:
    4x Meddling Mage
    2x Gaddock Teeg
    3x Silence
    3x Pyroblast
    2x Krosan Grip
    1x Grim Lavamancer

    the same list -2 Foothills -1 Windsweapt Heath +3 Arid Mesa. I lost the 1st die roll

    ROUND 1 ..can't remember the name srry. RIT kid I think. w/ DDANT

    I keep a 7of: 3x Wild Nacatl 1x Chain Lightning, 1 Taiga, 1x Wasteland, 1x Grim Lavamancer

    My opponent Mulligans to 6. He plays underground sea and thoughtseizes me. He takes Chain. I put him on Storm. I make a turn 1 Nacatl and pass. He draws and plays a petal, says go. I untap and Wasteland his U-Sea, to which he responds with Lim Dul's Vault. I'm fine with this, since it leaves him with no board to my 2 Nacatls. He ends up using his top 5, but it takes him too long to get going. I beat him down to 9 before he casts Rituals, LED, and Doomsday. He makes some sort of mistake here , says he messed up with Lim Dul's Vault. He hadn't even cracked his LED, but the Nacatls get there.

    SBing: +4 Meddling Mage +2 Gaddock Teeg +3 Silence -4 Path -2 Elspeth -2 Sylvan Library -1 Grim Lavamancer

    I open a hand of 1 Wasteland, 3 Fetches, Gaddock Teeg, Qasali Pridemage, Lightning Bolt

    Turn 1 he goes Volcanic Island, Go. I draw KOTR, play a Fetch and pass. He draws, plays a Polluted Delta and says go. EOT I bolt him, untap and play Gaddock Teeg. He plays another land and passes, and I feel like Gaddock Teeg is the problem that I needed him to be, and I beat in with Exalted Bonus, Tarmogoyf soon after. He burning wishes for Firespout at 14 and says go. I untap and draw Silence! for the turn, beat for 7. Silence him during his upkeep, and He's dead. He tells me after the match he wanted to see Zoo round 1, but I had 9! cards ready for his deck. I expected Storm @ this tournament, and I got Lucky early which was great.

    1-0 , 2-0 in games


    ROUND 2: White STAX splash G for Kotr. I win the Roll.

    I open Wasteland, Wild Nacatl, 2 Fetches, Qasali Pridemage, Tarmogoyf, Path to Exile. Keep the 7.

    Turn 1: Fetch -> Taiga, Nacatl. He plays a turn 1 Chalice @ 1. I'm not too scared, as I can play around it with my hand (a rarity). I draw a Noble Hierarch lol, Fetch and play Pridemage, and beat for 4. He plays Tabernacle and passes. I wasteland the tabernacle after paying upkeep on my creatures and beat for 5. He untaps and plays Ghostly Prison. I don't have a third land drop, so I pay 2 to beat for 3 with Qasali. He plays Magus of the Tabernacle on his turn and says go. Upkeep I crack Qasali to kill the Chalice of the Void, and PTE his Magus after paying for Nacatl. I beat in for 3. At this point he's really hurting from using Ancient Tomb. I end up drawing Grim Lavamancer, and play him. His Maze of Ith holds back my Wild Nacatl, but Grim Lavamancer burns his face twice, and I Lightning Bolt him out.

    In 2 Krosan Grip and 4 Meddling Mage, out 4 Chain Lightning and 2 Sylvan Library

    I open Wasteland, Grim Lavamancer, Qasali Pridemage, 2 Fetches, Path to Exile, Krosan Grip. Keep the 7.

    I play Fetch, Grim Lavamancer. He plays Ancient Tomb, Chalice for 1 going to 18. Ouch, but luckily my hand was well equipped to get around it, and my Lavamancer was already in play. I untap, play my Pridemage and beat for 2 with Grim. He then plays Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale. I untap and pay the upkeep on my 2 creatures. I Wasteland the Tabernacle and say go. He untaps, Wastelands one of my lands and plays Crucible. I happen to draw into more Fetches, so I get the basic Forest and Plains. I can't play lands for a few turns, as he threatens to Waste every turn, so I have to be content to Pay for Prison on Qasali and Beat for 3. I finally get time to Krosan Grip the Crucible that was holding my Pridemage back. Eventually he stops tapping his Ancient Tomb, plays a Magus of the Tabernacle, and sends it back to me. I do the same thing as before. Pridemage activation the Chalice, Path to Exile his Magus, and Play a Knight of the Reliquary this time. He plays a Smokestack and digs with Horizon Canopy. I don't need to be afraid of Smokestack yet, and it's clear he's on his last legs. My turn I play Elspeth, make a token, and pass. He puts a counter on Smokestack, plays a Sphere of Law! In responce, I burn him with Grim Lavamancer, and Bolt him down to 1. I simply untap, +3/+3 the token, and pay to attack with both KOTR and it. He's out.

    2-0, 4-0

    ROUND 3 U/G Vengevine Survival Madness! Danny... something. IDK his source tag. *here's where I can't remember opening hands

    He wins the Roll, and I procede to get blown out. He plays Trop go. I attempt to Fetch and he Stifles me. His turn he plays a Noble Hierarch. I play a Volcanic and Grim Lavamancer. He Wastelands my land and plays Survival of the Fittest. WOW, that was brutal. I fetch for another Taiga, and cast a Nacatl. Still, I'm very far behind already, and it's not long before he has the engine running on 3 mana for 2 turns. He get's 2 Vengevines with Rootwalla first. I make some dudes and pass. He gets the full 4 Vengevines, swings in with Wonder, and I'm totally fucked.

    in 3 Pyroblast, 2 Krosan Grip 4 Meddling Mage, out 2 Elspeth 2 Sylvan Library, 3 Grim Lavamancer

    This game goes much better for me. He mulligans to 6. Turn 1 Nacatl, He plays Trop pass. I Waste him, play Noble Hierarch and beat for 3. He fetches for another trop and says go. I fetch, play Qasali Pridemage and beat for 5 with Nacatl. At some point he casts Intuition, and I have the Red Blast. Meddling Mage eventually chants Survival of the Fittest, and it's not happening for him. onto game 3.

    He plays Trop Hierarch. I play turn 1 Nacatl. He Wastelands me, and plays Wild Mongrel. I attempt to Chain mongrel, he discards Wonder and Vengevine. I cast a Lightning Bolt, and walk right into a Daze. Shit. His turn he plays a Jitte, swings, and passes. I draw another land, and have Krosan Grip in my hand. When he attempts to equip. I Krosan Grip. His last 2 cards? Rootwalla Rootwalla. He Madnesses them into play with Mongrel, returns Vengevine, and beats me for something good. I untap, play Goyf and Nacatl, and Grim Lavamancer. He points to the Wonder in the Graveyard. Siiiigh. Thems the beats.

    2-1 matches, 5-2 games

    ROUND 4 a girl! with Mono Red Goblins

    she wins the roll and plays Mountain Go. My hand is the Nuts, turn 1 Nacatl. She goes Port, Piledriver. I Chain lightning it, Noble Hierarch, beat for 4. She plays another on her turn. Again I burn the Goblin, and play a Tarmogoyf. She Matrons for Ringleader, and eventually plays him, but I systematically burn every creature she plays. I have two Tarmogoyfs, Knight of the Reliquary, and attack her into Burn range eventually. I was never in any danger this game, and she really didn't seem very experienced.

    out 1 Sylvan Library in 1 Grim Lavamancer

    I open 2 Burn spells, Path, Grim Lavamancer, Wild Nacatl, Tropical Island, Fetch, Elspeth

    she plays turn 1 Goblin Lackey. I draw, and have the Chain Lightning ready for that guy. Again, I play my creatures out, remove hers, @ she's never in the game. Grim Lavamancer is nuts here, taking out 3 Goblins, 2 before his death to a Gempalm and 1 in Response. I have an Elspeth to fly over an exalted Knight of the Reliquary, and burn her Post combat FTW. She was never in this match. I wish her luck, but know that I kinda dreamcrushed her. Kinda felt bad, but whatever, you gotta take it where you can get it. :-/

    3-1 in matches, 7-2 in games

    ROUND 4 Feature Match against U/W/r Countertop-Thopter

    these games were covered on u-stream. http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/9068960

    I open 3 Wasteland, Taiga, Wild Nacatl, Chain Lightning, Elspeth.

    Long story short, my Nacatl gets Sworded, My Wastelands become dead, and I draw alot of burn spells. He gets Counter-Top active and I am out of cards. I run the Elspeth into Counter-Top, and pays 1 to put Moat on top. Ouch, game 2. Not the way I wanted to start it.

    in 3 Pyroblast 2 Krosan Grip. I fuck up here, by not boarding in Meddling Mage for Path to Exile, which was dead.

    I open a very risky hand. Something like Tropical Island, Noble Hierarch, Chain Lightning, Grim Lavamancer, Sylvan Library, Pridemage. I don't draw a land for my next turn, and tap out for Library. Eot he Enlightened Tutor's, and I thought he was going for a Thopter piece. Instead he goes for SDT, which was a relief for me... Library draws me into the fetch I need + a Wild Nacatl for 4 life. I play both Pridemage and Nacatl the following turn, and he has no removal yet. I play a Goyf next turn, while he tops in response. He starts finding removal. Path for Pridemage which fetches me my plains, and Swords for Goyf. My Nacatl still Swings in for 4 however, and I follow it up with a Knight. he tops eot and finds Firespout for me which wipes my board. I come back with a Wasteland on his Volcanic, leaving him with 3 Island and 2 Plains and a Top. I play a second Knight and pass. He untaps and Plays Jace!, but I find the Answer in Pyroblast, and hit him with the Knight. He plays another Jace, but he uses the -1 ability to bounce my knight this time. I have 2 Lightning Bolts in my hand at this point, and almost forget I only need 1 to kill the Jace. I play a THIRD Knight of the Reliquary. He finds the Swords for it, but I Library into another Bolt. The two kill him at 5. Close game!

    I forget again to SB out Path to Exile. I am an idiot, and NEEDED to mulligan my 7 card hand because of Double path. Double Medling Mage and I probably win the game and make the hand playable. My opponent Mulligans first, but it still sucks. I realized the mistake right after, but correctly Mulliganed to 6.

    game three: He plays fetch go, I fetch Savannah and play Hierarch. He Path's it! endstep, fetching me my plains? This ends up hurting him, because I use the mana he gives me to play Tarmogoyf, and use my Land drop for Wasteland, which takes his Tundra, leaving him with a lonely Delta. He cracks it Endstep, plays an Island, Counterbalance. I have no answer, but Tarmogoyf is in play. I untap, play my land, and attempt Knight of the Reliquary through the Counterbalance. He Blind flips a Land, thankfully. The Tarmogoyf and Knight of the Reliquary crash in the next turn. I use Wasteland on itself, to bring Knight to 6/6 On his turn he can't find an answer, and they finish him off the next turn.

    tight games, a good showing for the deck's lategame strength.

    4-1 match, 9-3 in games

    Round 6 sourcetag: Will, aka Rancorous Fool. Another nice RIT guy, playing CAB Jace

    We talk about spliting or not, and we come to the conclusion that we need to play it out. He would definitely draw in fine, but my breakers aren't good at all, despite only losing to the #1 Seed! We start to play it out, but await the Results on a particular game to split.

    Game 1: I just remember sucking for me. He Innocent Bloods to kill my Hierarch, Pernicious Deed's away my guys and goes control crazy with Life from the Loam. Maze of Ith stops the only Knight of the Reliquary I have, and he gets Forbid + buyback going... I opt to not run the Elspeth in my hand into another Forbid... and scoop onto game 2. This deck seems very strong the longer the game goes on.

    in +3 Pyroblast +4 Meddling Mage, out -4 Path to Exile -3 Grim Lavamancer

    Game 2: . I lead with Trop--> Hierarch. he Stp's it. I play a turn 2 Meddling Mage naming Innocent Blood and pass. He tells me that it hits him, one at least. He just plays a land for the turn. Next turn I Wasteland him, and play Tarmogoyf after attacking with my Meddling Mage. He plays EE @ 2, and I cry a little inside. I procede to RIP the Qasali Pridemage, and have the land to play it and destroy it before things got ugly. Really needed that topdeck there. He starts to get defensive with Mishra's Factory and Crucible, but eventually I stick some big guys and finish the job. After the game he was laughing at how odd the blue lands look at first. Tropical Island coming from Zoo shakes people up apparently :)

    Game 3: I draw a really nice 7 card hand, while my opponent Mulligans to 6. He plays Land go. My turn 1 Nacatl gets Forced pitching Force, but he's only left with a few cards left in hand. I'm never behind in this game, getting Creatures on the board and Sylvan Library early. I deal with 2 Jace, the Mindsculptors on my way. Mishra's factory + Crucible stop the attack for a while, and he counters some of my stuff with Forbid. but eventually I land an Elspeth which flies my Knight over. I burn him a little with a Lavamancer, Chain him ftw, and Pyroblast the Forbid. Close match, it was really tense, and he was a great opponent. I felt bad winning, because we were going to draw, but it ended up being the only way I was gonna make top 8. I thanked him, but he still got 4 Windsweapt heath for top 16. Come to Jupiter Games tournaments for this reason alone, top 16 prizes like fetches is insane imo. Top 8 decides to play it out.

    TOP 8: Nick Patnode w/ RB Goblins.

    Now I was happy I was playing against Goblins, because it's really a great match for me, but I drew terrible games 1+2

    Game1:
    5! Fetches, 1 Wild Nacatl, 1 Wasteland

    What?! What deck?! It'd be greedier for me to keep this hand thinking I could beat Goblins with Nacatl alone. I decided to go to 6.

    2 Bolts, 2 Grim Lavamancer, Wild Nacatl, Tarmogoyf

    Well shit, now its 0 lands. I'm on the play, I need to go to 5.

    Taiga, Nacatl, Chain, Hierarch, Elspeth

    It's really only 4 cards, but I have to keep. I go turn 1 Taiga, Nacatl. He plays a Vial. I get some attacks in, burn out the better goblins. He Wastelands my green source, and I even manage to attack him down to 9, but I gave him too much time. He plays Ringleaders, Vials in Siege-Gang and Wort, returning Gempalm. I had a Nacatl and Knight blocking, but it wasn't enough. I get overrun.

    -1 Sylvan Library, +1 Grim Lavamancer.

    I keep a 1 lander, a risky prospect to say the least, but I didn't want to mulligan if I didn't have to.

    I play turn 1 Taiga Hierarch. he plays mountain Lackey. I draw a Volcanic Island as my second land O_O, Chain the Lackey and play Tarmogoyf. On his turn he Wastelands my Taiga, and Stingscourger's my Tarmogoyf. Fuck. I need to draw any Green source to play a creature, but I never do. Skarrg, the rage Pits sits DEAD and it's awful. I hold him off with burn for a long time, but his 1/1's overrun me. After 2 Warren's Weirding and Gempalm Incinerator, I have no more guys. the 2 Elspeth's in my hand look at me and laugh. Well, I guess you've got to run out of luck somewhere! I guess when you get greedy with 4 colors you've gotta get mana screwed eventually :D

    Overall it was a great tournament, and I was really happy to top 8. Props and Slops to come I guess, I'm really tired. BTW..

    the changes to the deck I would make after the tournament.
    -1 Skarrg, the rage pits : useless all tournament, would have saved me if it was just a color producer. KOTR tricks are win more.
    -1 Elspeth, Knight Errant : doubles happened a few times, and I hated it. Most of the time I'm just building mana to cast her, dead far too often imo. I think drawing the 1 would be just fine, and the deck can win without it.

    +1 Taiga : Replacing Skarrg, the Rage Pits
    +1 Fetchland : Replacing Elspeth.

    Hope you like the deck, thanks for reading! Long live Big Zoo :D
    Last edited by troopatroop; 08-22-2010 at 04:25 PM.

  2. #2

    Re: Top 8 with R/G/W/u Big Zoo @JupiterGames August 21st

    Why is this big zoo? Cause of 2 Elspeth, Knight Errant?

  3. #3

    Re: Top 8 with R/G/W/u Big Zoo @JupiterGames August 21st

    Too bad for Will(your Round 6 opponent), and great job for you, nice report.

    I too, am wondering why it is Big Zoo. I see Elspeths and one or two more KoTR than usual. Not really enough to merit a new name; imo.

  4. #4
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    Re: Top 8 with R/G/W/u Big Zoo @JupiterGames August 21st

    Interesting list. Congrats on the finish.
    Co-Founder of Team Awesome - I heard Randy Buehler say a while back that good players give themselves the most number of turns to find the answer.
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    Re: Top 8 with R/G/W/u Big Zoo @JupiterGames August 21st

    Big Zoo has a few differences from normal Zoo lists. It's a slower deck, that aims to win during the Mid to Late game. It's strength lies in that it can still play Wild Nacatl and get ahead early. It plays some cards that Zoo usually doesn't.

    Noble Hierarch: This is usually where most Zoo lists play some number of Steppe Lynx or Kird Ape. Hierarch fulfills a different roll, accelerating out all of your bigger threats and giving Exalted. I like this guy alot. He counts as a mana source, which helps against Wasteland, and makes 1 Land hands keepable. I kept a 1 lander with Trop, Hierarch, and Library during game 2 of the Feature match against Countertop. I didn't draw a land turn 2, but played my Sylvan Library, which proceded to draw me everything I needed. It was risky, but it worked. Better than Mulliganing. Also note that she taps for blue :)

    Wasteland: The deck plays Wasteland, because it has synergy with Knight of the Reliquary and Noble Hierarch. It's also... just really good. If the deck didn't play Hierarch, I don't see that Wasteland could really be justified. That being said, Wasteland was the best card in my deck on the day. It won me game 1, round 1 against DDANT when I nuked his Sea, and played Nacatl #2. It also killed Tabernacle round 2, and won me game 2 of Round 6. It won me alot of games to be honest, and I think you have to have a really good reason not to be playing this card in a Legacy aggro deck. This deck utilizes it well, something quicker Zoo lists can't do.

    4x Knight of the Reliquary: This is a big difference. Most Zoo lists don't play more than 2, if any cards at 3cc. Knight of the Reliquary is VERY powerful, and 4x gives you more staying power against control decks. Where most Zoo decks want speed, we welcome the full set.

    Elspeth, Knight Errant: This is why I would call it Big Zoo. Normal Zoo decks can't run 4 drops, nor would it be any good. This deck is different, and accumulates enough mana often enough to justify Elspeth's inclusion. I love her in the deck, the best 4cc we could ask for. The second ability won me every game I used it in, and she's a bomb against control. Elspeth does make the deck alot different, but she was good.

    I hope that helps. It shares alot of the same cards, but the differences give it many different openings.

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    Re: Top 8 with R/G/W/u Big Zoo @JupiterGames August 21st

    gratz nick c, good to see your voice hasn't changed much bro.

    You seemed nervous in that feature match but controlled it well. Well played sir.

    Nick

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    Re: Top 8 with R/G/W/u Big Zoo @JupiterGames August 21st

    Man, congrats on the finish.
    I really like you not being afraid to innovate.

    The video of the 4th round was a great plus to the report.

    I didn't see the blue splash being relevant in a game though. Do you think it was worth it to splash blue for Meddling Mages?
    I have to agree that 4 Knights is the way to go. They are so format defining right now.

    I hope you do well with your deck. I'll keep trying big zoo here (although my list is a bit "bigger" with 2 Ajani Vengeant in addition to Elspeth).

    Cheers.
    Last edited by Grillo; 08-24-2010 at 09:35 AM.
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    Re: Top 8 with R/G/W/u Big Zoo @JupiterGames August 21st

    Quote Originally Posted by Grillo View Post
    Man, congrats on the finish.
    I really like you not being afraid to innovate.

    The video of the 4th round was a great plus to the report.

    I didn't see the blue splash being relevant in a game though. Do you think it was worth it to splash blue for Meddling Mages?
    I have to agree that 4 Knights is the way to go. They are so format defining right now.
    Thanks! I mentioned in the report, that I really regretted not boarding in Meddling Mage for the PTE's. It was a serious Blunder, thankfully not losing me the match, but it would've been nice to see how they did! My 7 card hand game 3 had two dead Path's in it, but no other real pressence. Had I been smarter, Meddling Mage would have showed up and done some good, probably naming Counterbalance and being amazing. I really liked Meddling Mage the two times he hit play, and I won both games. They were both game 2, of round 3 and 6. The first time he chanted Survival, but I was already pretty far ahead, and looked good to win even without him. Round 6 he chanted Innocent Blood against CAB Jace (finally wised up and boarded out PTE), helping ensure the win.

    Legacy has started to show a trend that led me to building this deck/playing Meddling Mage. Combo decks are beginning to take a more prevalent place at Legacy tournaments, and ones that revolve around 1 to 2 critical cards. It was Columbus that made me look more at Meddling Mage, where decks that I had underestimated began to win more. Show and Tell, Hypergenesis, Dream Halls, Alluren, and Sneak Attack are all cards that the Zoo deck really has no say over, that really crunch our plans of playing "fair". There have always been a few strong combo strategies that Meddling Mage has been good against, like Storm and Belcher, but not enough of them to warrant a color splash. Lately, at the Legacy tournaments I've been going to, I tend to see more "broken" attempts. 4x Meddling Mage + Xx Silence/Gaddock Teeg is my attempt at standing a chance. Every other matchup is pretty good, this deck doesn't need to fear the other Fair decks much at all.

    But I have to be honest, this is much more of a netdeck than an innovation of mine. I saw the top-8 for the 2010 Japanese Legacy Championships and built the deck from the ground up. Check out the deck that won this tournament. It's not my innovation, but I'll play it :P

    http://f18.aaa.livedoor.jp/~nameless...mps_2nd_E.html

    I actually think that top8 is a strong benchmark for Legacy, alot of great decklists.
    Last edited by troopatroop; 08-24-2010 at 08:44 PM.

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