Well, I have been lurking around The Source for some time and playtest with Evil Roopey constantly. This is an idea I had a while ago, and Bryan helped me tweak the deck to be one of the best metagame decks you can play right now. The deck has the ability to beat Threshold and Goblins while still having a decent game against the rest of te field. Hard to believe, right?

-Any sort of well built Zoo deck should inherently have a good game against Goblins; your creatures are bigger, come down just as fast, and just plain look sweeter than any Goblin.

Using that piece of information, I decided to tune my Zoo deck to beat Gro. In doing this I have a positive record against both Goblins and Gro, and since you are playing aggro control you have a decent game against random bullshit.

When you think of Zoo, you automatically think of some sort of Green/Red-based aggro deck that has some small controling elements, traditionally burn. While I use the same concept, I don't run Green or Red. I took a look at the current meta-game and immediatly noticed that Aggro-Control is the way to go. Being able to beat the control and combo decks, while still being able to have a game against aggro. Nice little combination of Archtypes if you ask me. While this version can probably have a better combo match-up if tuned to a combo meta, it is now currently tuned for Threshold.


Well, enjoy:

// Lands
4 [U] Scrubland
4 [ON] Bloodstained Mire
4 [B] Swamp
2 [A] Plains
4 [ON] Flooded Strand

// Creatures
4 [EX] Carnophage
4 [RAV] Dark Confidant
3 [CHK] Isamaru, Hound of Konda
4 [OD] Rotting Giant
4 [UL] Mother of Runes
3 [UD] Phyrexian Negator

// Spells
4 [TE] Sarcomancy
4 [JU] Cabal Therapy
4 [BOK] Umezawa's Jitte
4 [B] Swords to Plowshares
4 [TE] Diabolic Edict

// Sideboard
SB: 4 [UL] Engineered Plague
SB: 3 [R] Disenchant
SB: 4 [US] Duress
SB: 4 [AP] Gerrard's Verdict

Sceptical? Trust me, I would be too if I hadn't played the deck myself for some time. We have tested just about every card that could fit into the deck, and this is the build we think will be the best in the current meta.

Why play Black/White over 3Color Zoo? Well, that is probably the main question I should answer to explain why this deck should be played. Right now, Bryan and I think that the more controlling lists of Zoo is the way to go right now. Why? Because you have to outcontrol Threshold. This is quite a task to tackle while still being able to beat Goblins. We noticed that Diabolic Edict was just an amazing card against Threshold while still being good against just about every other deck. You might say it's not so hott versus Goblins, but since they are going to be struggling to keep up with your big creatures, it will most definatly throw off there entire game-plan just making making the lose one creature. Now, after that is said, Black and White happen to be the best colors at controling the board while still playing the aggro deck. You have good card advantage, the best hand disruption, the best removal, and some pretty effecient creatures.

If there are some questions about why some of the cards are in here:

Mother of Runes: Well, as I said earlier you want a more controling version of the deck. I tested Savannah Lions in this spot, but Mom was much better. It let's you run Negator without too much to worry about, in addition to giving you some protection from cards like Pyroclasm and spot removal. If Mom ever gets active, one spot removal spell isn't enough, and if they have two they will most likely hit Mom with the second, leaving your real threats on the board.

Phyrexian Negator: He seems like he would be poor, but is actually quite strong. He is bigger than most Gro creatures, and hits for a ton. In combination with Mom, he is insane. He's in here for a stronger late game. This deck is meant to go into turns 6-7, so you are going to need something that can handle the creatures in this format that come down around that time.

Dark Confidant: This, in my opinion, is the entire reason to run the deck. He produces card advantage, while going aggro. He might be the biggest Bolt target aside from Goblin Lackey in this entire format, because just like Lackey if he isn't dealt with, you will win the game.

Isamaru/Carnophage/Sarcomancy/Rotting Giant: This is obviously what makes up the aggro portion of the deck. These are the most effecient creatures in your colors, and they do a really good job of killing people.

Cabal Therapy: Threshold rolls over to Therapy/Flashback/Clock. Throw in some removal spells for when they try to recover, and you are set. Not only does this card swing the Thresh match-up, but is good against combo, and half-decent against Goblins. It is one of the most versatile cards in the format and it fits right into this deck.

Edict/Swords: Its your "burn" that is actually good against big creatures. They have been considered, for as long as I can remember, the best removal spells in the game.

Jitte: Well, if you didn't notice the recuring theme of life loss in this deck, here is the card that helps the recovery, while being an absolutely amazing card. Giving you one of the best late games of any Zoo deck, and making your match-ups against random decks much better.

The sideboard is quite straight forward. Against combo decks such as Solidarity and Nausea you side out your creature removal for discard, improving your match-up a lot. Against Goblins, you side out Edicts for Plagues just because Goblins, can go insane. Disenchant is for decks like Rifter and Diddly-Dal, giving you answers to cards you can't deal with otherwise.

The match-ups:

Threshold: Preboard 70-30. Postboard 70-30. They really don't have much in the sideboard for you, and you side in nothing for them, so the match plays out quite similarly both games. :)

Goblins: Preboard 65-35. Postboard 70-30. Seems decent. Like I said, you have a positive match against Goblins just because of the style of deck you are running.

Rifter: Preboard 45-55. Postboard 50-50. This is a tight matchup. There deck is built to beat decks like yours, and you have a hard time dealing with that. You want to side out your creature removal for Duresses, Disenchants, and a Verdict, but that only improves the match-up slightly.

Solidarity: Preboard 40-60. Potboard 65-35. Siding out the dead cards for higly relevant cards makes this match-up much, much better. They will probably side in Disrupts against you, assuming you are going to do exaclty what you do do, so be aware of that.

Golden Grahams: Preboard 75-25. Postboard 80-20. After some testing, you side in Duresses over Jittes in this match-up, and you have a fast clock and an insane amount of distruption for there combo. Also, be aware that you can lose to their disruption.

That is the deck.


Sarah