Zoo is an aggro deck that is designed to run the most efficient creatures and burn spells in the game. The most popular version of the deck is RGW.
Deck Philosophy: Zoo wants to win early using efficient creatures. Your burn spells are more for clearing the board for your creatures and then for some late game reach rather than for just throwing at your opponents face like in Burn or Sligh. The gameplan is to drop a few efficient threats as your opponent deals with the ones in play and continue to remove anything in your creatures paths while you use them to beat your opponent.
Zoo can be tuned to your metagame, if your meta is more about the early, middle or late game you can tune Zoo accordingly to make it fit. Generally I think people's metagames are a combination of all of the above so planning for midgame is likely the best plan, but if your's specifically is different or you expect a lot of people playing a specific deck or style of deck, plan differently. For some examples of cards for each type of plan, Steppe Lynx is a more earlygame choice, whereas Sylvan Library starts to focus on the mid/late game, as do three-drop creatures like Knight of the Reliquary and Woolly Thoctar.
Card choices(RGW Zoo) -
Creatures:
1-Drops:
The debate about which 1 mana creatures to run is always going on with the most commonly chosen ones being:
Wild Nacatl – The best 1-drop creature you can play in this deck, a 3/3 for G, you should be running 4 of this as well.
Grim Lavamancer – A 1-drop that acts as a recurring burn spell. Its low power/toughness and the fact that it ability can have some anti-synergy with Tarmogoyf mean that it isn't always necessarily a 4-of, but it is still a great choice for the deck.
Kird Ape – Another good 1-drop creature. Kird Ape is a former 4-of staple that has declined somewhat in power. Many of the ideas below for one drops are attempted Kird Ape replacements.
Loam Lion – A Kird Ape that can't be Hydro/Blue elemental blasted. Not really a huge difference between Kird Ape and Loam Lion.
Figure of Destiny – Although it has a low starting power and toughness it can grow large by using any extra mana you have. The downside is that he is more of a midgame card and your opponent can just remove him in response to your pumping him. That said, he gives you a bit of a boost in the midgame and unlike Kird Ape can reach a size to contend with more creatures.
Steppe Lynx - Included for the opposite reason of Figure in many ways, Steppe Lynx attempts to use the fact that Zoo runs a reasonable amount of fetchlands to try to hit for 5 damage early on. If you choose to run it, you may want to run about 11 fetchlands to help make sure it is consistently better than(or at least as good as) Kird Ape.
2-Drops
Tarmogoyf – Pretty self explanatory, cheap, efficient, high power/toughness, should always be a 4 of.
Qasali Pridemage – Its printing added a boost of power the deck. It is one of the cards that has increased the matchup Zoo has against many decks. It's an out to problem cards such as Moat and Counterbalance. Should definitely be one of the first cards to consider for its versatility as a beater, pumping your creatures or answering a problematic artifact/enchantment.
3-Drops Knight of the Reliquary – Given the amount of fetchlands Zoo runs, this creature can get large quite fast and can act as additional large beef to compliment Tarmogoyf. He has the same weakness Tarmogoyf does to Relic of Progenitus. He does help your Steppe Lynx get bigger if you run them, and can end games fast if you draw him later in the game.
Woolly Thoctar – The reason for running him is similar to that of KotR. The weakness of Thoctar is that he can't ever grow beyond his base body and his mana cost is hard to pay. His advantage is that he is an unconditionally large creature.
Burn: Lightning Bolt – 1 mana, 3 damage and at instant speed is as efficient as it gets. This should be a 4-of in pretty much every list.
Chain Lightning – Although it is a worse version of lightning bolt, it is still 3 damage for 1 mana. Although not necessarily necessary depending on what else is in the deck, it is always a solid choice.
Lightning Helix – A combination of life gain and burn, it is only 2 mana for 3 damage but produces a 6 life swing and can help deal with opposing aggro.
Price of Progress – A house against decks that run no or very few basic lands. The disadvantage is that this deck also runs few basics and this card can be dead against some other decks. Possibly better sideboard than maindeck, but some very successful lists have had this in the main deck, although generally running around 2 copies.
Fireblast – A free 4-damage his is always a good thing, it lets you pull off wins fast and sometimes out of nowhere, but Zoo can have trouble keeping all three colors against decks packing Stifle+Wasteland or Sinkhole/Wasteland, and this card does not help that problem at all, since it may require the loss of your only red sources to get it to resolve against mana denial.
Other Removal: Swords to Plowshares – A great 1 mana answer to an opposing creature you can't burn like Tarmogoyf or Rhox War Monk.
Path to Exile – Another 1 mana answer to the same creatures as listed above.
PtE vs. StP: Judging by the prevalence of PtE in Top-8 lists, most people seem to run PtE as removal 1-4 and use StP in the sideboard or as the 5th maindeck non-burn removal spell.
Other cards that could be considered-
Sylvan Library – Acts as a virtual Sensei's Divining Top every upkeep as well as acting as a pseudo-Dark Confidant for getting threats into your hand. With all the shuffle effects from fetchlands you can see a new set of cards if you need to. The only problem is that Sylvan Library isn't a threat and isn't something you want to see multiples of(although having one helps you not draw another).
Elspeth, Knight Errant – In some of the “Big Zoo”(Zoo decks with higher CMC cards for a better late game and matchup against some decks)
Noble Hierarch – Played in Big Zoo lists to help accelerate into the 4 CMC cards such as Elspeth.
Stoneforge Mystic – Lets you run a virtual copy of any equipment in your deck as well as the ability to use that equipment. Can be run in or out of the board, usually with Sword or Light and Shadow or Fire and Ice, Jitte, or Basilisk Collar.
Sideboard choices- Vexing Shusher – It gets around Counterbalance and Chalice of the Void, a great card choice for sideboards to make sure you can push through your threats.
Krosan Grip – It destroys problem cards like the Counterbalance, Chalice, Trinisphere, Moat, Blood Moon and Humility.
Choke – Hurts blue decks a lot, especially those that use Sensei's Divining Top and/or run few non-Island lands.
Red Elemental Blast/Pyroblast – Also good against blue decks, can counter spells that are problematic for you or take out permanents if need be.
Umezawa's Jitte – A great equipment that helps make sure your creatures have the dominant size. It also helps improve the matchups against other aggro decks. The problem is it ties up your mana for a few turns, which in the mirror match is quite painful.
Gaddock Teeg – A good choice against Landstill or combo. It shuts down Ad Nauseam, Jace TMS, Force of Will and Engineered Explosives.
Ethersworn Canonist – Along with Gaddock Teeg can be used as hate for combo decks, which are a bad matchup for Zoo. The problem is that even with both Teeg and Canonist the matchup still isn't very good for Zoo as both creatures are easily dealt with. However, there are other practical applications of the Canonist, such as slowing down the opposing deck after you have dropped a threat or two and you can just remove there one per turn to clear a path.
Mindbreak Trap – One more hate card against combo decks. In combination with other cards it can give you a chance in the combo matchup, but it doesn't make it spectacular.
Kataki, War's Wage - A good choice against Stax and other artifact heavy decks that can beat them down as well.
Ancient Grudge – 2-for-1-ing some artifacts is nice, probably only worth playing in a meta with lots of artifact based decks(Stax, Stompy, etc..)
Graveyard Hate Tormod's Crypt/Relic of Progenitus/Ravenous Trap/Bojuka Bog/Faerie Macabre – Graveyard hate is always good given the prevalence of graveyard based decks. There is much debate over which of this is the best to run, and the answer should be a combination of them so you don't get hit hard by Pithing Needle or Cabal Therapy to remove your only graveyard hate. I personally dislike Relic as Zoo has too many graveyard reliant cards itself, Goyf, Lavamancer, etc. Tormod's Crypt is free, but does let your opponent know ahead of time that you have it, unless you use it immediately after playing it. Ravenous Trap has been for me the all-star against Dredge, because it is immune to Pithing Needle and is free to play as an instant; the downside is that it doesn't work as well against Reanimator style decks because they won't have 3 cards hit the 'yard in one turn. Bojuka Bog doesn't produce the proper colors of mana, but it does give us hate that sits in the library until it is pulled out with Knight of the Reliquary; it isn't worth running without KotR. Faerie Macabre is great against Reanimator as it can't be Force of Willed or Duressed, but it does have the weakness of not being good enough against Dredge, as you want to get rid of their whole graveyard, not just two cards.
Decklists These are some Top-8 decklists from recent Legacy events -
MTG Rules Advisor
I currently play only two formats, what I play in them is:
Legacy: Domain Zoo, RGW Zoo, Merfolk, Solidarity, Mono Black Aggro
EDH: Kagemaro, First to Suffer
Shouldn't you want to run Blood Moon instead of destroying it ? Boros and Dark Boros (RBW zoo) run it. Also in domain zoo Duress or Hymn To Tourach are recommended in the sideboard to deal with combo and permission or could run Stifle against combo. Is Blightning too slow and what about Fork ?
You don't want Blood Moon for the most part because the deck is no longer very red focused. You can't really do much without plains and forests now due to Nacatl, so you have to have both a forest and plains in play already before you get Blood Moon so you can be sure to have the ability to play 'Goyf, Nacatl, Ape, Pridemage and Lightning Helix. Blood Moon/Magus of the Moon are also a bit slow and high-curve for the deck.
Duress is a potential sideboard choice, and I will add that to the list.
The double black in Hymn's mana cost can be too hard to support in Domain Zoo. Blightning is too slow and Fork is just bad, given that you are most likely only ever going to be able to Fork a Lightning Bolt, and given the low instant and sorcery count it is going to be dead often.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MTG Rules Advisor
I currently play only two formats, what I play in them is:
Legacy: Domain Zoo, RGW Zoo, Merfolk, Solidarity, Mono Black Aggro
EDH: Kagemaro, First to Suffer
Yehey! a Zoo primer. Is terravore another creature that can be considered for this deck? I also want to know if Magma jet can be considered as a good substitute for a burn card.
Terravore has GG in its casting cost which is going to be harder than GW you need to get to play Knight of the Reliquary. Although Terravore is going to be a bit bigger than Knight, depending on how many fetches your opponent has, Knight doesn't imediately die to any sort of graveyard removal, he just shrinks and can use his own ability to regrow himself.
Magma Jet isn't all that great, because although it provides some card filtering, it isn't very good at being a burn spell for clearing opposing creatures away, which is really what you need your burn to be doing.
I'm sure the issue of Magma Jet will keep coming up, so I'l add it to the card choice discussion in the primer.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MTG Rules Advisor
I currently play only two formats, what I play in them is:
Legacy: Domain Zoo, RGW Zoo, Merfolk, Solidarity, Mono Black Aggro
EDH: Kagemaro, First to Suffer
I'm not sure, I don't think Jotun Grunt is a good choice for the deck, but that list did win. With Grunt you can always keep it alive just until it eats your opponents entire graveyard I guess, might work in a metagame where there are lots of decks relying on their graveyards.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MTG Rules Advisor
I currently play only two formats, what I play in them is:
Legacy: Domain Zoo, RGW Zoo, Merfolk, Solidarity, Mono Black Aggro
EDH: Kagemaro, First to Suffer
I'm sure casting terravore isn't as hard as you probably think. If the guy can sideboard 2 volcanic fallout and 2 sulfuric vortex that's 2 RR btw, same reasoning should be the same for the vore.
While that is true, Sulfuric Vortex is not going to be boarded in against any matchup that runs a mana denial plan that can keep you from getting RR, since those decks don't really have any life gain. Volcanic Fallout comes in against tribal aggro, which with the exception of Merfolk doesn't have a strong mana denial plan. Merfolk is a strong matchup even without Volcanic Fallout and getting a stable source of red mana is important in that matchup as burn spells are key to keeping Lords off the table.
The problem with Terravore, as I see it is that KotR is almost always going to be similar in size, but also has an ability that works well with Horizon Canopy if you want to run that, and also has an easier mana cost to have by turn 3, and can get his mana cost set up fetching only basic lands and still haveing RGW around.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MTG Rules Advisor
I currently play only two formats, what I play in them is:
Legacy: Domain Zoo, RGW Zoo, Merfolk, Solidarity, Mono Black Aggro
EDH: Kagemaro, First to Suffer
I don't really have a problem fetching the GG mana needed for the vore. Usually you turn 1 Taiga (for ape/nacatl)anyway. Then you can just fetch for Savannah on turn 2. That's pretty much it, you got you 2 Green mana, Your wild nacatl is 3/3 on your turn 2 and you can drop the pridemage and make her swing for 4.
Your vore's 2 green mana is set and you can drop him on your next turn. The thing I like about him is that he's got trample which KoTR and Goyf don't have and he is just as big. I run all 3 of them anyways;)
I don't really have a problem fetching the GG mana needed for the vore. Usually you turn 1 Taiga (for ape/nacatl)anyway. Then you can just fetch for Savannah on turn 2. That's pretty much it, you got you 2 Green mana, Your wild nacatl is 3/3 on your turn 2 and you can drop the pridemage and make her swing for 4.
Your vore's 2 green mana is set and you can drop him on your next turn. The thing I like about him is that he's got trample which KoTR and Goyf don't have and he is just as big. I run all 3 of them anyways;)
That's great if your opponent isn't playing Stifle, Wasteland, Sinhole or some combination of them. If they are, you aren't going to keep a dual in play for very long, nor are both of your first fetches going to work. Blood Moon also makes Terravore unplayable unless you run 2 basic forests and fetch them both up, which means turn 3 you have either GGW or GGR depending on what basics you fetched to get Terravore, when ideally against nonbasic hate you would fetch up RGW to make sure your entire deck is playable.
Obviously in matchups and metagames where you don't have to worry about nonbasic hate Terravore is a pretty good choice, as Trample is a great bonus, and I will add him to primer as a choice for that.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MTG Rules Advisor
I currently play only two formats, what I play in them is:
Legacy: Domain Zoo, RGW Zoo, Merfolk, Solidarity, Mono Black Aggro
EDH: Kagemaro, First to Suffer
Well even if you play KoTR over Terravore, if your opponent has stifle or sinkhole you are screwed either way. So the problem there isn't really fetching for the 2 green mana as you mentioned earlier;)
Yeah 2-3 grim would be the right call here. 4 thoctar is a lot as well, 2 the most because of his 3 colors you sometimes get screwed against blue and black. Use 2 KoTR she is better than thoctar:)
My list. I moved 2 shushers mb as a metagame call, since a lot of players run counterbalance based decks, improves my matches game 1. Oblivion Ring as an extra removal, possibly taking out planeswalkers like Elspeth at times. Replaced Lightning Helix with Incinerate due to some players running moon effects, and my deck can still be playable against such decks if I can fetch a forest t1.
Used to run Thoctars, but it costs 3 different mana to cast.
The list runs farily well, and I did quite well in the 3 tournaments that I ran this list.
But I replaced the Thoctars with KotR, I also played 1 seal of fire in place of a lavamancer, my SB also had 3 Gaddock teeg, I also should have played fallout because I fought alot of weenie decks like goblins and the like. The dead card in my board was price of progress because there was 0 43 land decks. I also did not like fireblast that much.
This thread is full of idiots... Lightning Bolt is NOT being reprinted.
Many times has a writer in Wizards said so, because of the plain and simple fact that it's too powerful for what it costs. x/3 creatures shouldn't be able to die at instant speed for one mana without a signifigant drawback. (like PTE giving you a land)
I absolutely guarantee that LB will not be printed in M10, and you can quote me on that.
I do like Hatfield's list other than the Fireblasts in the main. Unlike Sligh and Burn where every land is a mountain and you don't have to worry to much about mana fixing, in Zoo against blue decks with FoW as well as Stifle you likely already have mana fixing problems and having to lose to lands to Fireblast would just make them worse, especially if the FoW it.
The rest of the deck seems solid, although with 3 Horizon Canopy you might want to run Knight over Thoctar(as you did). Did you ever find them to clash with Grim Lavamancers removing your graveyard?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MTG Rules Advisor
I currently play only two formats, what I play in them is:
Legacy: Domain Zoo, RGW Zoo, Merfolk, Solidarity, Mono Black Aggro
EDH: Kagemaro, First to Suffer
I do like Hatfield's list other than the Fireblasts in the main. Unlike Sligh and Burn where every land is a mountain and you don't have to worry to much about mana fixing, in Zoo against blue decks with FoW as well as Stifle you likely already have mana fixing problems and having to lose to lands to Fireblast would just make them worse, especially if the FoW it.
The rest of the deck seems solid, although with 3 Horizon Canopy you might want to run Knight over Thoctar(as you did). Did you ever find them to clash with Grim Lavamancers removing your graveyard?
no all i needed was me saccing a land searching for a fetch and I was on the way again. Sylvan Library was the bomb for me because against some decks I could easily pay 8 and draw an additional 2 per turn and with fetches I always had new draws.
This thread is full of idiots... Lightning Bolt is NOT being reprinted.
Many times has a writer in Wizards said so, because of the plain and simple fact that it's too powerful for what it costs. x/3 creatures shouldn't be able to die at instant speed for one mana without a signifigant drawback. (like PTE giving you a land)
I absolutely guarantee that LB will not be printed in M10, and you can quote me on that.
Yeah, I can understand Sylvan Library being included the more I play with Domain Zoo. I really like Dark Confidant for a similar reason, since having the extra cards can really help you out depending on the matchup.
Is there anyone else who plays Domain and has comments on improvement for it?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MTG Rules Advisor
I currently play only two formats, what I play in them is:
Legacy: Domain Zoo, RGW Zoo, Merfolk, Solidarity, Mono Black Aggro
EDH: Kagemaro, First to Suffer
Yeah to many duals , no Jitte even as a one of? I would put chain lightning in as he is goyf food, Im also not sold on the fireblasts, Horizon canopy is also very good as its basically a cycling card thats a dual.
Btw I think 4 Kotr is to much, you need a utility dude like maybe gaddock teeg. Im also planning on cutting the fireblasts from my deck for Helix.
This thread is full of idiots... Lightning Bolt is NOT being reprinted.
Many times has a writer in Wizards said so, because of the plain and simple fact that it's too powerful for what it costs. x/3 creatures shouldn't be able to die at instant speed for one mana without a signifigant drawback. (like PTE giving you a land)
I absolutely guarantee that LB will not be printed in M10, and you can quote me on that.
Too many Knights when you only need 2 the most.
I usually have a minimum of 4 Basic in case you get path to exile 4 times and against decks that run wastelands.
2 fireblast should be maximum, last thing you need is to have 2 on your opening hand.
I would run at least 2 jitte, great against merfolk, elves and goblins.
Can you play this deck without spenind the...oh I wanna say 80 - 160/200 for the lands? I mean come on, I dont wanna pay $15-20 per fetch, have a set of 2-3 for each color, AND THEN SPEND $30-60 on Each dual land?!?!?! Absurd.
So I made a budget version of the deck, but I used only basic lands. It didn't work too well.
And I tried using the Artifacts from Alara Block, but They kind of are a dead draw late game.
So my question is, can I play this deck with Simian/Elvish Spirit guides, and use the Tri-Lands of Jund/Naya and get away with not having to run the $30-60 DualLands?
I'd still obv have to run lands, but not as many, letting me put in more cards/creatures in? Could I use Knight of the White Orchid/Civic Wayfinder/ to find Plains/Forest/Mnts?
I'm not a total cheapskate but I'd like to not pay $300 for a set of damn lands.
Suggestions? Comments?
Here's a suggested LandBase for what I was talking about
But that's the thing....I CAN get all that for $300 or so, but I dont WANT TO. I dont have any money, I'm a college student trying to pay off loans with no job >.<
I'm asking, if the manabase that I posted here could work for a cheap replacement till I get the money for buying the mana
(BTW I've been playing for about a year, never really bought packs because I usually just Draft on Fridays, and my trade base sucks >.<)
Deck Philosophy: Zoo wants to win early using efficient creatures. Your burn spells are more for clearing the board for your creatures and then for some late game reach rather than for just throwing at your opponents face like in Burn or Sligh. The gameplan is to drop a few efficient threats as your opponent deals with the ones in play and continue to remove anything in your creatures paths while you use them to beat your opponent.
Zoo can be tuned to your metagame, if your meta is more about the early, middle or late game you can tune Zoo accordingly to make it fit. Generally I think people's metagames are a combination of all of the above so planning for midgame is likely the best plan, but if your's specifically is different or you expect a lot of people playing a specific deck or style of deck, plan differently. For some examples of cards for each type of plan, Steppe Lynx is a more earlygame choice, whereas Sylvan Library starts to focus on the mid/late game, as do three-drop creatures like Knight of the Reliquary and Woolly Thoctar.
Card choices(RGW Zoo) -
Creatures:
1-Drops:
The debate about which 1 mana creatures to run is always going on with the most commonly chosen ones being:
Wild Nacatl – The best 1-drop creature you can play in this deck, a 3/3 for G, you should be running 4 of this as well.
Grim Lavamancer – A 1-drop that acts as a recurring burn spell. Its low power/toughness and the fact that it ability can have some anti-synergy with Tarmogoyf mean that it isn't always necessarily a 4-of, but it is still a great choice for the deck.
Kird Ape – Another good 1-drop creature. Kird Ape is a former 4-of staple that has declined somewhat in power. Many of the ideas below for one drops are attempted Kird Ape replacements.
Loam Lion – A Kird Ape that can't be Hydro/Blue elemental blasted. Not really a huge difference between Kird Ape and Loam Lion.
Figure of Destiny – Although it has a low starting power and toughness it can grow large by using any extra mana you have. The downside is that he is more of a midgame card and your opponent can just remove him in response to your pumping him. That said, he gives you a bit of a boost in the midgame and unlike Kird Ape can reach a size to contend with more creatures.
Steppe Lynx - Included for the opposite reason of Figure in many ways, Steppe Lynx attempts to use the fact that Zoo runs a reasonable amount of fetchlands to try to hit for 5 damage early on. If you choose to run it, you may want to run about 11 fetchlands to help make sure it is consistently better than(or at least as good as) Kird Ape.
2-Drops
Tarmogoyf – Pretty self explanatory, cheap, efficient, high power/toughness, should always be a 4 of.
Qasali Pridemage – Its printing added a boost of power the deck. It is one of the cards that has increased the matchup Zoo has against many decks. It's an out to problem cards such as Moat and Counterbalance. Should definitely be one of the first cards to consider for its versatility as a beater, pumping your creatures or answering a problematic artifact/enchantment.
3-Drops
Knight of the Reliquary – Given the amount of fetchlands Zoo runs, this creature can get large quite fast and can act as additional large beef to compliment Tarmogoyf. He has the same weakness Tarmogoyf does to Relic of Progenitus. He does help your Steppe Lynx get bigger if you run them, and can end games fast if you draw him later in the game.
Woolly Thoctar – The reason for running him is similar to that of KotR. The weakness of Thoctar is that he can't ever grow beyond his base body and his mana cost is hard to pay. His advantage is that he is an unconditionally large creature.
Burn:
Lightning Bolt – 1 mana, 3 damage and at instant speed is as efficient as it gets. This should be a 4-of in pretty much every list.
Chain Lightning – Although it is a worse version of lightning bolt, it is still 3 damage for 1 mana. Although not necessarily necessary depending on what else is in the deck, it is always a solid choice.
Lightning Helix – A combination of life gain and burn, it is only 2 mana for 3 damage but produces a 6 life swing and can help deal with opposing aggro.
Price of Progress – A house against decks that run no or very few basic lands. The disadvantage is that this deck also runs few basics and this card can be dead against some other decks. Possibly better sideboard than maindeck, but some very successful lists have had this in the main deck, although generally running around 2 copies.
Fireblast – A free 4-damage his is always a good thing, it lets you pull off wins fast and sometimes out of nowhere, but Zoo can have trouble keeping all three colors against decks packing Stifle+Wasteland or Sinkhole/Wasteland, and this card does not help that problem at all, since it may require the loss of your only red sources to get it to resolve against mana denial.
Other Removal:
Swords to Plowshares – A great 1 mana answer to an opposing creature you can't burn like Tarmogoyf or Rhox War Monk.
Path to Exile – Another 1 mana answer to the same creatures as listed above.
PtE vs. StP: Judging by the prevalence of PtE in Top-8 lists, most people seem to run PtE as removal 1-4 and use StP in the sideboard or as the 5th maindeck non-burn removal spell.
Other cards that could be considered-
Sylvan Library – Acts as a virtual Sensei's Divining Top every upkeep as well as acting as a pseudo-Dark Confidant for getting threats into your hand. With all the shuffle effects from fetchlands you can see a new set of cards if you need to. The only problem is that Sylvan Library isn't a threat and isn't something you want to see multiples of(although having one helps you not draw another).
Elspeth, Knight Errant – In some of the “Big Zoo”(Zoo decks with higher CMC cards for a better late game and matchup against some decks)
Noble Hierarch – Played in Big Zoo lists to help accelerate into the 4 CMC cards such as Elspeth.
Stoneforge Mystic – Lets you run a virtual copy of any equipment in your deck as well as the ability to use that equipment. Can be run in or out of the board, usually with Sword or Light and Shadow or Fire and Ice, Jitte, or Basilisk Collar.
Sideboard choices-
Vexing Shusher – It gets around Counterbalance and Chalice of the Void, a great card choice for sideboards to make sure you can push through your threats.
Krosan Grip – It destroys problem cards like the Counterbalance, Chalice, Trinisphere, Moat, Blood Moon and Humility.
Choke – Hurts blue decks a lot, especially those that use Sensei's Divining Top and/or run few non-Island lands.
Red Elemental Blast/Pyroblast – Also good against blue decks, can counter spells that are problematic for you or take out permanents if need be.
Umezawa's Jitte – A great equipment that helps make sure your creatures have the dominant size. It also helps improve the matchups against other aggro decks. The problem is it ties up your mana for a few turns, which in the mirror match is quite painful.
Gaddock Teeg – A good choice against Landstill or combo. It shuts down Ad Nauseam, Jace TMS, Force of Will and Engineered Explosives.
Ethersworn Canonist – Along with Gaddock Teeg can be used as hate for combo decks, which are a bad matchup for Zoo. The problem is that even with both Teeg and Canonist the matchup still isn't very good for Zoo as both creatures are easily dealt with. However, there are other practical applications of the Canonist, such as slowing down the opposing deck after you have dropped a threat or two and you can just remove there one per turn to clear a path.
Mindbreak Trap – One more hate card against combo decks. In combination with other cards it can give you a chance in the combo matchup, but it doesn't make it spectacular.
Kataki, War's Wage - A good choice against Stax and other artifact heavy decks that can beat them down as well.
Ancient Grudge – 2-for-1-ing some artifacts is nice, probably only worth playing in a meta with lots of artifact based decks(Stax, Stompy, etc..)
Graveyard Hate
Tormod's Crypt/Relic of Progenitus/Ravenous Trap/Bojuka Bog/Faerie Macabre – Graveyard hate is always good given the prevalence of graveyard based decks. There is much debate over which of this is the best to run, and the answer should be a combination of them so you don't get hit hard by Pithing Needle or Cabal Therapy to remove your only graveyard hate. I personally dislike Relic as Zoo has too many graveyard reliant cards itself, Goyf, Lavamancer, etc. Tormod's Crypt is free, but does let your opponent know ahead of time that you have it, unless you use it immediately after playing it. Ravenous Trap has been for me the all-star against Dredge, because it is immune to Pithing Needle and is free to play as an instant; the downside is that it doesn't work as well against Reanimator style decks because they won't have 3 cards hit the 'yard in one turn. Bojuka Bog doesn't produce the proper colors of mana, but it does give us hate that sits in the library until it is pulled out with Knight of the Reliquary; it isn't worth running without KotR. Faerie Macabre is great against Reanimator as it can't be Force of Willed or Duressed, but it does have the weakness of not being good enough against Dredge, as you want to get rid of their whole graveyard, not just two cards.
Decklists
These are some Top-8 decklists from recent Legacy events -
3 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Wild Nacatl
Instants [8]
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
Sorceries [3]
3 Chain Lightning
Enchantments [2]
2 Sylvan Library
2 Umezawa's Jitte
Lands [22]
1 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Savannah
2 Taiga
3 Arid Mesa
3 Horizon Canopy
3 Plateau
3 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Null Rod
3 Choke
3 Krosan Grip
2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Thrun, the Last Troll
2 Gaddock Teeg
2 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Grim Lavamancer
4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Wild Nacatl
Instants [11]
1 Fireblast
2 Price of Progress
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
Sorceries [2]
2 Chain Lightning
2 Sylvan Library
Lands [22]
1 Forest
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Karakas
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Savannah
2 Plateau
3 Taiga
3 Windswept Heath
4 Arid Mesa
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Choke
1 Gaddock Teeg
2 Krosan Grip
2 Price of Progress
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Swords to Plowshares
2 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Umezawa's Jitte
I currently play only two formats, what I play in them is:
Legacy: Domain Zoo, RGW Zoo, Merfolk, Solidarity, Mono Black Aggro
EDH: Kagemaro, First to Suffer
BUG Dredge BUG]
WUBRG Storm WUBRG
UBR FaerieStalker UBR
EDH
Sygg, River Cutthroat (1vs1)
Maga, Traitor to Mortals (multiplayer)
Duress is a potential sideboard choice, and I will add that to the list.
The double black in Hymn's mana cost can be too hard to support in Domain Zoo. Blightning is too slow and Fork is just bad, given that you are most likely only ever going to be able to Fork a Lightning Bolt, and given the low instant and sorcery count it is going to be dead often.
I currently play only two formats, what I play in them is:
Legacy: Domain Zoo, RGW Zoo, Merfolk, Solidarity, Mono Black Aggro
EDH: Kagemaro, First to Suffer
Magma Jet isn't all that great, because although it provides some card filtering, it isn't very good at being a burn spell for clearing opposing creatures away, which is really what you need your burn to be doing.
I'm sure the issue of Magma Jet will keep coming up, so I'l add it to the card choice discussion in the primer.
I currently play only two formats, what I play in them is:
Legacy: Domain Zoo, RGW Zoo, Merfolk, Solidarity, Mono Black Aggro
EDH: Kagemaro, First to Suffer
I currently play only two formats, what I play in them is:
Legacy: Domain Zoo, RGW Zoo, Merfolk, Solidarity, Mono Black Aggro
EDH: Kagemaro, First to Suffer
The problem with Terravore, as I see it is that KotR is almost always going to be similar in size, but also has an ability that works well with Horizon Canopy if you want to run that, and also has an easier mana cost to have by turn 3, and can get his mana cost set up fetching only basic lands and still haveing RGW around.
I currently play only two formats, what I play in them is:
Legacy: Domain Zoo, RGW Zoo, Merfolk, Solidarity, Mono Black Aggro
EDH: Kagemaro, First to Suffer
Your vore's 2 green mana is set and you can drop him on your next turn. The thing I like about him is that he's got trample which KoTR and Goyf don't have and he is just as big. I run all 3 of them anyways;)
That's great if your opponent isn't playing Stifle, Wasteland, Sinhole or some combination of them. If they are, you aren't going to keep a dual in play for very long, nor are both of your first fetches going to work. Blood Moon also makes Terravore unplayable unless you run 2 basic forests and fetch them both up, which means turn 3 you have either GGW or GGR depending on what basics you fetched to get Terravore, when ideally against nonbasic hate you would fetch up RGW to make sure your entire deck is playable.
Obviously in matchups and metagames where you don't have to worry about nonbasic hate Terravore is a pretty good choice, as Trample is a great bonus, and I will add him to primer as a choice for that.
I currently play only two formats, what I play in them is:
Legacy: Domain Zoo, RGW Zoo, Merfolk, Solidarity, Mono Black Aggro
EDH: Kagemaro, First to Suffer
here is my list
3 Taiga
3 Plateau
3 Savannah
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Mountain
1 Forest
1 Plains
CREATURES
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Kird Ape
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Woolly Thoctar
4 Chain Lightning
4 Path to Exile
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
4 Pithing Needle
4 Krosan Grip
4 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Tormod's Crypt
N/A
Modern
UrzaTron
Legacy
N/A
Vintage
Dark Times
EDH
Horobi, Death's Wail
Pauper
Affinity :symu::symr::symb::symg:
Special thanks to ChibiSwan for the avatar! (link)
Four Grim Lavamancers are too much. Two would be the right number.
Oddly enough many zoo deck have been running a couple Sylvan Library's as a pseudo top.
Would Goblin Guide make the deck? He speeds up the clock and the drawback isn't that big unless your opponent has a top in play.
Used to run Thoctars, but it costs 3 different mana to cast.
The list runs farily well, and I did quite well in the 3 tournaments that I ran this list.
Mainboard:
4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Wild Nacatl
2 Vexing Shusher
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Incinerate
3 Magma Jet
4 Path to Exile
3 Price of Progress
4 Chain Lightning
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Bloodstained Mire
2 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Plains
2 Plateau
2 Savannah
3 Taiga
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
Sideboard:
1 Vexing Shusher
3 Krosan Grip
3 Volcanic Fallout
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Umezawa's Jitte
But I replaced the Thoctars with KotR, I also played 1 seal of fire in place of a lavamancer, my SB also had 3 Gaddock teeg, I also should have played fallout because I fought alot of weenie decks like goblins and the like. The dead card in my board was price of progress because there was 0 43 land decks. I also did not like fireblast that much.
“Homo homini lupus est.”
The rest of the deck seems solid, although with 3 Horizon Canopy you might want to run Knight over Thoctar(as you did). Did you ever find them to clash with Grim Lavamancers removing your graveyard?
I currently play only two formats, what I play in them is:
Legacy: Domain Zoo, RGW Zoo, Merfolk, Solidarity, Mono Black Aggro
EDH: Kagemaro, First to Suffer
no all i needed was me saccing a land searching for a fetch and I was on the way again. Sylvan Library was the bomb for me because against some decks I could easily pay 8 and draw an additional 2 per turn and with fetches I always had new draws.
“Homo homini lupus est.”
Is there anyone else who plays Domain and has comments on improvement for it?
I currently play only two formats, what I play in them is:
Legacy: Domain Zoo, RGW Zoo, Merfolk, Solidarity, Mono Black Aggro
EDH: Kagemaro, First to Suffer
Btw I think 4 Kotr is to much, you need a utility dude like maybe gaddock teeg. Im also planning on cutting the fireblasts from my deck for Helix.
“Homo homini lupus est.”
4 Kird Ape
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Wild Nacatl
Instant:
3 Fireblast
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
2 Magma Jet
4 Path to Exile
2 Sylvan Library
Land:
4 Arid Mesa
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Taiga
3 Plateau
3 Savannah
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Mountain
1 Forest
1 Plains
Too many Knights when you only need 2 the most.
I usually have a minimum of 4 Basic in case you get path to exile 4 times and against decks that run wastelands.
2 fireblast should be maximum, last thing you need is to have 2 on your opening hand.
I would run at least 2 jitte, great against merfolk, elves and goblins.
So I made a budget version of the deck, but I used only basic lands. It didn't work too well.
And I tried using the Artifacts from Alara Block, but They kind of are a dead draw late game.
So my question is, can I play this deck with Simian/Elvish Spirit guides, and use the Tri-Lands of Jund/Naya and get away with not having to run the $30-60 DualLands?
I'd still obv have to run lands, but not as many, letting me put in more cards/creatures in? Could I use Knight of the White Orchid/Civic Wayfinder/ to find Plains/Forest/Mnts?
I'm not a total cheapskate but I'd like to not pay $300 for a set of damn lands.
Suggestions? Comments?
Here's a suggested LandBase for what I was talking about
3 Mountains
3 Forest
3 Plains
2 Jungle Shrine
3 Ancient Ziggurat
2 Savage Lands
4 Terramorphic Expanse
Could That work? BTW, Sorry for SUPER LONG POST
Heroes of the Plane
The Price of Legacy
The Price of Legacy 2.0!
Decks:
EDH
Malestrom Wanderer Group Chaotic Hugs
Tasigur, The Golden Fang Valu-Town
Modern
Too many to List...
Legacy
GWBNic-Fit PodGWB
G12-Post (Building)G
Thats 360 total for the manabase, but most of it can be done in trades...
N/A
Modern
UrzaTron
Legacy
N/A
Vintage
Dark Times
EDH
Horobi, Death's Wail
Pauper
Affinity :symu::symr::symb::symg:
Special thanks to ChibiSwan for the avatar! (link)
I'm asking, if the manabase that I posted here could work for a cheap replacement till I get the money for buying the mana
(BTW I've been playing for about a year, never really bought packs because I usually just Draft on Fridays, and my trade base sucks >.<)
Heroes of the Plane
The Price of Legacy
The Price of Legacy 2.0!
Decks:
EDH
Malestrom Wanderer Group Chaotic Hugs
Tasigur, The Golden Fang Valu-Town
Modern
Too many to List...
Legacy
GWBNic-Fit PodGWB
G12-Post (Building)G