So I've been playing and modifying this deck for a little under a year. It's never been Tier 1 or anything, but I've always loved it. Usually goes 2-2 at FNM, with the occasional 3-1. However, recently it's become bad-or at least, worse-for some reason. My local meta hasn't changed at all. Over the last 5 FNMs I've gone 1-3 three times, and 0-4 twice. It's not like I made any HUGE adjustments; the latest thing I ever did that could be construed as a "big change" was splashing red for a playset of Bolt and the singleton Ancient Grudge in the board. I know my way around its interactions fairly well (I mean, I did build it after all). I always just seem to get outmanoeuvred, outnumbered, or combo-killed before I have lethal (screw you, Affinity!) Speaking of Affinity, this deck has three match-ups that I've never won against and never expect to: Affinity, Elves, and that sonuva***** Ad Nauseum. Looking for any way whatsoever to even have a chance against them.
Anyone got any suggestions? Anything at all? Help!!!
just my opinion but it looks like you are playing a midrange deck without midrange value. you have no taxers and collected company doesnt do much for you because your creatures are just kinda meh. also almost none of your creatures have evasion without the help of rancor. If you want to play naya look into little zoo or big zoo. if you are looking to improve the deck overall i might take a look at G/W hatebears as it plays similarly but with better interactions.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Tooth & Nail........Grishoalbrand....Living Dominance....Tezzerator.........Vannifar Pod
My Decks that have been BANNED
DRS Jund | Kiki-Pod | Bloom Titan | Splinter Twin | KCI
Your bad streak probably has more to do with your deck being unable to keep up with your local meta's evolution than anything else, though Zoo decks like yours haven't been big for a while. You have some odd choices here, though. The mainboard Vines of Vastwood and whole playset of Knight of Autumn sound like meta calls, but Ajani, Caller of the Pride just does not feel like a modern playable card. He was too slow and low-impact even for his standard environment, so all he really has is a surprise -3 or maybe the threat of ulting against control. You could serve to bulk up your Coco targets. 23 creatures is just above the absolute minimum to make Coco work, but you have several creatures that just aren't thrilling to hit.
As far as your bad matchups go, you need to improve your sideboard tech. I don't know why you run more Loxodon Smiters in your sideboard unless there's a bunch of 8-rack running around. Elves demands crowd control, and it wouldn't hurt against affinity, either. Pyroclasm is the cheapest option, but Fiery Cannonade and Settle the Wreckage can cause blowouts. Your Ad Nauseam matchup could benefit from some Coco-friendly hate like Gaddock Teeg or Eidolon of Rhetoric.
I know my GW hatebears deck became really bad when humans became one of the best decks in modern. Everyone has a strategy to beat humans and GW hatebears or zoo does worse against those strategies than humans does.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern
JundBGR
RW Blood MoonRW
Pauper
Delver U
Elves G
Control B
Commander
Edgar Markov BRW
Captain Sisay GW
Niv-Mizzet, Parun UR
Tymna and Ravos WB
Against matchups like Affinity and Elves, you'll definitely want to run a sweeper. Settle is great here, but it will require that you can consistently make it to 4 mana with a board state AND not already be dead. Pyroclasm is effective, but will usually require a followup Grudge to clear a ravager trigger.
Decks along this vein also tend to include a copy of Gavony Township as a way of breaking a board stall and making the BoP a viable threat.
After that, we start getting into the "just play other creatures" argument, which starts to detract from what makes your deck YOUR deck. I'll refrain from the high ticket items since I would assume if you had Heirarch/Goyf you'd already be using them.
-3 Ajani (low value)
-2 Loxodon Smiter (very opponent dependent)
+3 Knight of the Reliquary
+2 Renegade Rallier
-2 Sunpetal Grove
+2 Wooded Foothills
With a couple more fetches, you can more consistently get triggers on Rallier to recur your threats, plus helping to pump KoR so he can turn on Rhonas when he hits the battlefield. Knight can also dig out Gavony.
New alternatives that could warrant inclusion are also Cindervines and Rhythm of the Wild. CV would replace the Grudge in the side and have game against all spell-based decks. Rhythm could be on the slow side, but you are midrange, and the idea of CoCo into two haste-d 4/4s could warrant testing here.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern! Dredge RBG
Modern! Burn (RW, RWG, RBG , RB ... what can I say, I like variety in my BBQ )
Legacy! Burn RW
EDH! Uril the Miststalker RWG
This deck used to be playable, like, four years ago. It has a hell of a time against combo though, as you have no doubt discovered.
What are you doing wrong?
Playing Birds of Paradise over Noble Hierarch. Hierarch is the better card because it can pump your attackers.
Playing checklands/fastlands with Wild Nacatl. Nacatl cares a lot about land types. If your opening hand is Razorverge Thicket + Rootbound Crag, it's just a 1/1. Play more fetches and shocks.
Not playing enough creatures for Collected Company. A good rule of thumb is at least 26, the more the better. As much as you might want to play Ajani, he is a PW and you'd be better off with a CMC <=3 creature in that slot.
Playing Vines of Vastwood. Instead of using Vines to trade 1-for-1 with their removal (in the best case), just play more creatures. More creatures means more hits for Company, and topdecking a creature on an empty board is far better than topdecking a Vines.
Not playing enough mana. 21 lands and 2 mana dorks is a bit low. More mana dorks is better, as you can lead T1 mana dork into T2 3-drop.
Choke in the SB. This card is not that great after Kaladesh brought the remaining fastlands (Spirebluff Canal mainly) into the format. What decks does this beat in your meta?
Loxodon Smiter in the SB. You already have tons of big creatures in the main, how often is your SB plan "I need to board into even more big creatures"? If the answer is "not often", you can shore up your other matchups by dropping the Smiters for something else.
Leyline of Sanctity in the SB. This card has one purpose, and that is, if you're a combo deck, it stops you from getting wrecked by discard. Your deck is not a combo deck, and you'd actually like them to play discard, because them spending 1 mana to remove stuff from your hand instead of your board is a great deal for you, and you have Loxodon Smiter. Leyline is not a good card against combo either - it blocks the win condition like Grapeshot, but it does not stop the actual "comboing off", such as cantripping and playing rituals. And if you don't stop the comboing off, they will just draw/tutor for their Echoing Truth, bounce your Leyline, and kill you anyway. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is a better combo hate card to use in place of Leyline.
If it isn’t too much trouble, could someone post what sideboard list they would use for this deck? I’d like to see a few and find some common picks that would work for my meta.
I'd also agree you probably don't need the loxodon, and even if you did need something like that, he's been outmoded twice over. Both obstinate baloth and nullhide ferox are just better. Also, 4 main deck ooze seems... really high.
Finally, I feel I should state that I find it weird to play coco without eternal witness. Being able to chain cocos is REALLY good.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
L1 judge since 1/30/12 (lapsed as of 1/30/13)
My Friend Code is: 0146-9645-8893
Your U/R Phoenix Matchup looks pretty awful, and thats a huge part of the Meta right now. Its the new hotness and everyone's playing it. You need some amount of mainboard Path to Exile to deal with problem creatures you'd otherwise struggle to beat like big Goyfs/Gurmag, or cards that threaten to win the game (My mind goes to Thing in the Ice.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Quit shakin' my brew!"
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Anyone got any suggestions? Anything at all? Help!!!
Naya Aggro
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Vines of Vastwood
2 Birds of Paradise
2 Rancor
4 Voice of Resurgence
4 Scavenging Ooze
4 Knight of Autumn
2 Loxodon Smiter
2 Steel Leaf Champion
3 Ajani, Caller of the Pride
1 Rhonas the Indomitable
3 Collected Company
1 Plains
4 Windswept Heath
2 Sunpetal Grove
1 Rootbound Crag
4 Razorverge Thicket
3 Temple Garden
2 Stomping Ground
3 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
1 Ancient Grudge
3 Choke
2 Loxodon Smiter
4 Leyline of Sanctity
Moved to Deck Creation. - Torpf
Tooth & Nail........Grishoalbrand....Living Dominance....Tezzerator.........Vannifar Pod
My Decks that have been BANNED
DRS Jund | Kiki-Pod | Bloom Titan | Splinter Twin | KCI
As far as your bad matchups go, you need to improve your sideboard tech. I don't know why you run more Loxodon Smiters in your sideboard unless there's a bunch of 8-rack running around. Elves demands crowd control, and it wouldn't hurt against affinity, either. Pyroclasm is the cheapest option, but Fiery Cannonade and Settle the Wreckage can cause blowouts. Your Ad Nauseam matchup could benefit from some Coco-friendly hate like Gaddock Teeg or Eidolon of Rhetoric.
JundBGR
RW Blood MoonRW
Pauper
Delver U
Elves G
Control B
Commander
Edgar Markov BRW
Captain Sisay GW
Niv-Mizzet, Parun UR
Tymna and Ravos WB
Decks along this vein also tend to include a copy of Gavony Township as a way of breaking a board stall and making the BoP a viable threat.
After that, we start getting into the "just play other creatures" argument, which starts to detract from what makes your deck YOUR deck. I'll refrain from the high ticket items since I would assume if you had Heirarch/Goyf you'd already be using them.
-3 Ajani (low value)
-2 Loxodon Smiter (very opponent dependent)
+3 Knight of the Reliquary
+2 Renegade Rallier
-2 Sunpetal Grove
+2 Wooded Foothills
With a couple more fetches, you can more consistently get triggers on Rallier to recur your threats, plus helping to pump KoR so he can turn on Rhonas when he hits the battlefield. Knight can also dig out Gavony.
New alternatives that could warrant inclusion are also Cindervines and Rhythm of the Wild. CV would replace the Grudge in the side and have game against all spell-based decks. Rhythm could be on the slow side, but you are midrange, and the idea of CoCo into two haste-d 4/4s could warrant testing here.
Modern! Burn (RW, RWG, RBG , RB ... what can I say, I like variety in my BBQ )
Legacy! Burn RW
EDH! Uril the Miststalker RWG
What are you doing wrong?
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
Finally, I feel I should state that I find it weird to play coco without eternal witness. Being able to chain cocos is REALLY good.
My Friend Code is: 0146-9645-8893