Went 5-1-1 and top8ed the PPTQ last Saturday. About 75 players total. Sunday at the WMCQ I wasn't that lucky. Just x-2 the first rounds and kept playing just for fun.
Round 1: 2 x 1 Burn
Was on the play G1, and at this matchup the one who wins the dice roll usually wins. Won the first and the third round just racing. Nothing too exciting or interesting to bring up.
In: +3 Thalias, +3 Lightning Helix
Out: -3 Path to exile, -2 Flinthoof Boar, -1 Rancor
Round 2: 1 x 2 Burn
I was on the play once again. Bu this time, took mulligan to 6 and scryed a land on top. I needed that second land, so I didn't crack my fetch T1. This made me lose a lot of life and slowed down my clock, wich gave the oponent a great advantage. G2 Thalia just won me the game by slowing him down and making him waste a bunch of burn to kill her (and a couple of one drops, to stay alive). G3 Thalia once again bought me a lot of time, but I wasn't able to cast a hasty creature + atarka's commnand for lethal in the same turn because of her, loosing the match the very nexte turn.
In: +3 Thalias, +3 Lightning Helix
Out: -3 Path to exile, -2 Flinthoof Boar, -1 Rancor
Round 3: 2 x 0 Infect
Kept good hands, and even though I was on the draw G1, the opponent wasn't that fast. Plus, I had a lot of removal maindeck (and even more after SB). Was able to develop a fast clock with removal backup in both G1 and G2.
In: +1 Path, +3 Lightning Helix, +1 Natural State
Out: -4 Ghor Clan, -1 Rancor, -1 Flinthoof Boar
Round 4: 2 x 1 Bant Eldrazi
Lost G1 after Drowner of Hope hit the board. G2 I got a really fast hand, and managed to ghor-clan my way throught his dudes. G3 kept a hand with Kird Ape and 2 Geists. He kept a displacer and a bunch of dorks. After bolting his displacer, he didn't drawed any big threat, and I've drawed the last 2 Geists and a Goblin Guide. He kept hitting me with a 3/4 birds with a bunch of exalted triggers, and when he finally casted Drowner of Hope, I've just path him for the win.
In: +1 Path, +1 Deflecting Palm
Out: -2 Flinthoof Boar
Round 5: 2 x 0 RG Breach
G1 he couldn't ramp up fast enough to start hitting me with valakut, neither had an Anger of the Gods, so I just race to victory. G2 was a close one, but he made a wrong life counting, putting me down to 3 by ramping on his turn (no Titan) and leaving my creatures alive to hit for lethal next turn.
In: +3 Thalia, +1 Deflecting Palm
Out: -2 Flinthoof Boar, -2 Geist
Round 6: 2 x 0 Infect
Same as the last one. Bolt the elf G1, and he kept a blinkmoth and a forest G2, only to never reveal the third land for Goblin Guide.
In: +1 Path, +3 Lightning Helix, +1 Natural State
Out: -4 Ghor Clan, -1 Rancor, -1 Flinthoof Boar
Round 7: ID and locked to the top 8
Quarterfinals: 2 x 1 Dredge
G1 he easily outraced me with a ridiculous board, even though I was on the play. G2 his game was pretty slow, I've got really good draws and manage to win without SB cards. G3 kept a one land hand, droping Graffdiggers cage on T1. Eventually found the second land, and by the time he Abrupt Decayed the Cage, It was already too late. Plus, his dredges didn't droped many relevant cards in the graveyard, and he did not have the Gargadon+Bridge combo.
In: +1 Path, +2 Grafdiggers, +2 Scavenging Ooze
Out: -4 Geists, -1 Flinthoof Boar
Semifinals: 1 x 2 RW Land destruction
G1 I was on the play, kept a one land hand, and he T1 Flagstone, exile SSG, Boom/Bust my land. Then, Blood Moon on T3. GG. G2 Thalia turn 2 just won me the game, and by the time he casted Anger, I had lethal Burn in my hand. G3 he landed Blood Moon on T2, and I couldn't come back from it.
In: +3 Thalia, +2 Natural State
Out: -2 Path, -3 Geist
Very happy with the result overall. I think that Strangleroot Geist inclusion really paied off. The clock is just faster and he just makes removal really bad. Wasn't paired against Jund, though. I think he might really shine in that matchup. Sill not sure Thalia is really worth it against Burn. It delays the oponent's game plan a lot, but it also comes with the cost of slowing down my Helixes and Commands, wich is really relevant in a game that ends by turn 3-4
I don't know if this still belongs to this thread. Maybe it's time to create a different thread for Big Naya which contains naya company, big naya and naya planeswalker. There is a difference between small zoo and big naya, since those two decks play a lot of different creatures and have different sideboard strategies. At least this is how I feel, let me know your opinion.
I played in a WMCQ with 176 people. This was my decklist:
Round 1 Jeskai Geist (0-2): Lost the dice roll. G1 he has turn 3 Geist and I never found my third land to be able to stop him. G2 I flooded (with only 1 fetchland among the first 5 lands, so he could kill my KotR with Bolt) and he just kills me with Resto.
0-1
Round 2 Abzan Company (2-0): Lost the dice roll. I got some removal paired with creatures while he never got near his combo.
1-1
Round 3 Infect (2-1): I won the dice roll. G1 my first hand had only 1 land, 2nd and 3rd hand without lands, so I am down to 4 and just lost the game. G2 I have enough removal and G3 I got Needle for his Inkmoth Nexus and Bolt for Agent which wins me the game.
2-1
Round 4 Living End (2-0): Lost dice roll. G1 he cast Living End turn 3 kills my Nacatl and Voice and gets 3 creatures back. I come back with Goyf and 2x Nacatl and kill him when I was at 1 life. G2 I got Scooze he plays Living End and still gets back 2 creatures. I drop a couple of creatures and then trade my creatures against his. When he plays another Living End I get Bojuka Bog with KotR. So only I get some creatures back, cast a CoCo and just kill him.
3-1
Round 5 Temur (2-0): Lost the dice roll. G1 he take a mull to 4 and plays a lot of value cards (Snapcaster, Huntmaster, Tarmo, Electrolyze) and a lot of basic lands. In fear of Blood Moon I play pretty defensiv while slowly kill him. G2 I fetch for basics to play around Blood Moon and have too much action for him to handle. Funny thing, he also fetched for basics in fear of me having Blood Moon. So both of us played around Blood Moon because both fetched for basics, but none of us brought it in.
4-1
Round 6 Jeskai Control (2-1): Lost the dice roll. G1 the game goes long while I drew a lot of lands. In the end I made a mistake when I fetched with KotR a Canopy instead of Kessig. He was on 4 Life and I attacked with a 4/4 Scooze and KotR. He chumped my KotR with Snapcaster and casted a Lightning Helix (from hand) to stay alive. He killed me in the backswing with Resto and Spell Queller. This was the only way how he could survive. With Kessig I would be still able to kill him. I win G2. G3 I keep a hand with Voice, Hierarch, Bolt, Choke and 3 lands. Drew some more lands and 2 bolts. Later I got a KotR, he counters it and I can drop choke which locks 3 of his islands and this turns the game around.
5-1
Round 7 Infect (2-0): Lost the dice roll. I play against a friend. In both games I have Nacatl turn 1 paired with some removal and other creatures which defeats him. He also had to mull to 5 in the first game. Unfortunately this kicked him out of Top 8 contention.
6-1
Round 8 Bant Eldrazi (2-0): Lost dice roll. We can't draw for top 8, since we got 9 and 10 place after round 7. Both games I have removal for his big threats, while I got more creatures than he has removal. G1 he already pathed my first Nacat, but I got a 2nd one + 2 Hierarchs, so Nacatl can attack even though he has Thought-Knot Seer. Best play against he was path he Reality Smasher and discard Smiter.
7-1
After swiss round I got 2nd place and only lost 1 round and 4 games. One of those games due to a misplay. Won only 1 out of 8 dice rolls and that game I lost because of a mull to 4. So far pretty happy with the event.
Top 8 against Infect (0-2): I am on the play, since I had the better standing after swiss. I knew he was on Infect so I had to mull my first hand because I had no removal. Second hand no lan. Mull to 5 with a mediocre hand. I drew 3 Tarmogoyfs, which only where 2/3 and I was only able to put him down to 4. He had 2 Vines of Vastwood which could protect his Inkmoth against my single removal spell and kill me. Second game goes long where he has 2 hierarch, 1 glistener Elf, 2 Blighted Agent and 1 Spellskite while I got only 2 removal (path and bolt) and not enough pressure.
Great to reach top 8, but still feels bad not winning a round in top 8.
The maindeck was pretty good. Even though I boarded out Scooze often, in the matchups where I wanted Scooze, it was awesome. I was never able to play Tireless Tracker, so I don't know if he is worth it or I should exchange him. Need much more testing with Tireless Tracker.
In the sideboard I might change:
- Magus of the Moon out for 3rd Blood Moon
- Bonfire out for 3rd Anger of the Gods(not sure about this one)
- cut Worship and add another card.
Nice! Congratulations on the result! Interesting tech with Bojuka Bog. Also not a big fan of Worship on this deck.
I'm Ok on creating different threads. Even though they share the same origin, nowadays this are two different decks with different game (and sideboard) strategies that happens to have Wild Nacatl.
imo you shouldn't cut Worship, it's one of the best sideboard cards. I ran 2 at GP Indy and they were great both days. Bring it in against Affinity, Burn, Eldrazi, Death's Shadow, Merfolk, and any other small aggro deck.
Went 5-1-1 and top8ed the PPTQ last Saturday. About 75 players total. Sunday at the WMCQ I wasn't that lucky. Just x-2 the first rounds and kept playing just for fun.
Round 1: 2 x 1 Burn
Was on the play G1, and at this matchup the one who wins the dice roll usually wins. Won the first and the third round just racing. Nothing too exciting or interesting to bring up.
In: +3 Thalias, +3 Lightning Helix
Out: -3 Path to exile, -2 Flinthoof Boar, -1 Rancor
Round 2: 1 x 2 Burn
I was on the play once again. Bu this time, took mulligan to 6 and scryed a land on top. I needed that second land, so I didn't crack my fetch T1. This made me lose a lot of life and slowed down my clock, wich gave the oponent a great advantage. G2 Thalia just won me the game by slowing him down and making him waste a bunch of burn to kill her (and a couple of one drops, to stay alive). G3 Thalia once again bought me a lot of time, but I wasn't able to cast a hasty creature + atarka's commnand for lethal in the same turn because of her, loosing the match the very nexte turn.
In: +3 Thalias, +3 Lightning Helix
Out: -3 Path to exile, -2 Flinthoof Boar, -1 Rancor
Round 3: 2 x 0 Infect
Kept good hands, and even though I was on the draw G1, the opponent wasn't that fast. Plus, I had a lot of removal maindeck (and even more after SB). Was able to develop a fast clock with removal backup in both G1 and G2.
In: +1 Path, +3 Lightning Helix, +1 Natural State
Out: -4 Ghor Clan, -1 Rancor, -1 Flinthoof Boar
Round 4: 2 x 1 Bant Eldrazi
Lost G1 after Drowner of Hope hit the board. G2 I got a really fast hand, and managed to ghor-clan my way throught his dudes. G3 kept a hand with Kird Ape and 2 Geists. He kept a displacer and a bunch of dorks. After bolting his displacer, he didn't drawed any big threat, and I've drawed the last 2 Geists and a Goblin Guide. He kept hitting me with a 3/4 birds with a bunch of exalted triggers, and when he finally casted Drowner of Hope, I've just path him for the win.
In: +1 Path, +1 Deflecting Palm
Out: -2 Flinthoof Boar
Round 5: 2 x 0 RG Breach
G1 he couldn't ramp up fast enough to start hitting me with valakut, neither had an Anger of the Gods, so I just race to victory. G2 was a close one, but he made a wrong life counting, putting me down to 3 by ramping on his turn (no Titan) and leaving my creatures alive to hit for lethal next turn.
In: +3 Thalia, +1 Deflecting Palm
Out: -2 Flinthoof Boar, -2 Geist
Round 6: 2 x 0 Infect
Same as the last one. Bolt the elf G1, and he kept a blinkmoth and a forest G2, only to never reveal the third land for Goblin Guide.
In: +1 Path, +3 Lightning Helix, +1 Natural State
Out: -4 Ghor Clan, -1 Rancor, -1 Flinthoof Boar
Round 7: ID and locked to the top 8
Quarterfinals: 2 x 1 Dredge
G1 he easily outraced me with a ridiculous board, even though I was on the play. G2 his game was pretty slow, I've got really good draws and manage to win without SB cards. G3 kept a one land hand, droping Graffdiggers cage on T1. Eventually found the second land, and by the time he Abrupt Decayed the Cage, It was already too late. Plus, his dredges didn't droped many relevant cards in the graveyard, and he did not have the Gargadon+Bridge combo.
In: +1 Path, +2 Grafdiggers, +2 Scavenging Ooze
Out: -4 Geists, -1 Flinthoof Boar
Semifinals: 1 x 2 RW Land destruction
G1 I was on the play, kept a one land hand, and he T1 Flagstone, exile SSG, Boom/Bust my land. Then, Blood Moon on T3. GG. G2 Thalia turn 2 just won me the game, and by the time he casted Anger, I had lethal Burn in my hand. G3 he landed Blood Moon on T2, and I couldn't come back from it.
In: +3 Thalia, +2 Natural State
Out: -2 Path, -3 Geist
Very happy with the result overall. I think that Strangleroot Geist inclusion really paied off. The clock is just faster and he just makes removal really bad. Wasn't paired against Jund, though. I think he might really shine in that matchup. Sill not sure Thalia is really worth it against Burn. It delays the oponent's game plan a lot, but it also comes with the cost of slowing down my Helixes and Commands, wich is really relevant in a game that ends by turn 3-4
Congratz on the result. Strangleroot Geist looks really cool and I might try it. It's good against removal heavy decks that don't have Path to Exile and can put up quite decent clock. I've been thinking about it before but never really made that step but you made me willing to try it at least.
Thanks! I do not recommend Geist if you run BTE+Bushwakeer, though, because of the lack of synergy with BTE (the deck is already very explosive and runs too many 2 drop). Since we don't have better one-drops besides those already in maindeck, I think he really compensates the aggro plan for the fact that it cost 2. Used to have 3 Eidolon of the Great Revel maindeck and the manabase was more focused on Red, but he was often sideboarded out, and is really bad in the currently metagame. Geist kinda do the same damage I expected from Eidolon, with the upside of being good against removal. Also opened 2 SB slots that I had for Voice of Resurgence, wich I thought it was no longer needed.
Its with a heavy heart I gotta drop us from tier 2 to developing competitive. I think we all knew this was coming, with the decks running a ton of anti aggro now but suicide zoo is killin' it right now, so thats taking away our meta shares.
I would actually take advantage of this "demotion" to separate the thread into Bushwaker Zoo/ Little Zoo and Naya Zoo/Big Zoo. I think the two decks fell appart too much to be considered the same and is quite confusing when you are reading sideboards or fringe cards for each deck until you get to the part where they mention if it is for Big or little zoo. Both decks dont have the same strategy anymore, since Big Zoo ends up more in a controlling aspect in a lot of matchups while Little just goes as fast and wide as possible. Also little zoo is in a better spot right now and could maybe get faster to tier 2, while Big Zoo just feels like the weakest Company deck right now, and may need more focused discussion in order to improve.
I would actually take advantage of this "demotion" to separate the thread into Bushwaker Zoo/ Little Zoo and Naya Zoo/Big Zoo. I think the two decks fell appart too much to be considered the same and is quite confusing when you are reading sideboards or fringe cards for each deck until you get to the part where they mention if it is for Big or little zoo. Both decks dont have the same strategy anymore, since Big Zoo ends up more in a controlling aspect in a lot of matchups while Little just goes as fast and wide as possible. Also little zoo is in a better spot right now and could maybe get faster to tier 2, while Big Zoo just feels like the weakest Company deck right now, and may need more focused discussion in order to improve.
Thats my 2c.
I do not wish for my post in reply to be considered spam, but I wanted to add a +1 to this post. Outside of both being Naya (or maybe RGx) based aggro decks, they are really quite different. It might cut down on the replies for either specific thread, but it would reduce some confusion. Now up to four cents?
I would actually take advantage of this "demotion" to separate the thread into Bushwaker Zoo/ Little Zoo and Naya Zoo/Big Zoo. I think the two decks fell appart too much to be considered the same and is quite confusing when you are reading sideboards or fringe cards for each deck until you get to the part where they mention if it is for Big or little zoo. Both decks dont have the same strategy anymore, since Big Zoo ends up more in a controlling aspect in a lot of matchups while Little just goes as fast and wide as possible. Also little zoo is in a better spot right now and could maybe get faster to tier 2, while Big Zoo just feels like the weakest Company deck right now, and may need more focused discussion in order to improve.
Thats my 2c.
I do not wish for my post in reply to be considered spam, but I wanted to add a +1 to this post. Outside of both being Naya (or maybe RGx) based aggro decks, they are really quite different. It might cut down on the replies for either specific thread, but it would reduce some confusion. Now up to four cents?
The answer to that is no. This deck will never be promoted like that, since you will get even less result.
The deck isnt extremely different, as much as people want it to seem to be. They use the exact same core. True, they are getting more distant, but neither one has enough data to say "naya company is tier 1 gruul is tier 3 so it separates."
We did this before 2 years ago and what happened was there was 3 zoo threads, and none were really replied to.
Honestly, based on this, Domain Zoo looks like the current top variant against all the linear decks currently running around. And any deck that can beat up Jund the way Caleb did in his series certainly seems worth playing. Dude needs some Abrupt Decay or Qasali Pridemage or he's gonna get ruined by Blood Moon and Rest in Peace, though.
4x Experiment One
2x Flinthoof Boar
4x Ghor-Clan Rampager
4x Goblin Guide
4x Kird Ape
4x Loam Lion
4x Strangleroot Geist
4x Wild Nacatl
Instant (11)
4x Atarka's Command
4x Lightning Bolt
3x Path to Exile
3x Arid Mesa
1x Forest
1x Mountain
1x Sacred Foundry
2x Stomping Ground
2x Temple Garden
4x Windswept Heath
4x Wooded Foothills
Enchantment (1)
1x Rancor
1x Deflecting Palm
2x Grafdigger's Cage
3x Lightning Helix
2x Natural State
1x Path to Exile
2x Scavenging Ooze
1x Stony Silence
3x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Round 1: 2 x 1 Burn
Was on the play G1, and at this matchup the one who wins the dice roll usually wins. Won the first and the third round just racing. Nothing too exciting or interesting to bring up.
In: +3 Thalias, +3 Lightning Helix
Out: -3 Path to exile, -2 Flinthoof Boar, -1 Rancor
Round 2: 1 x 2 Burn
I was on the play once again. Bu this time, took mulligan to 6 and scryed a land on top. I needed that second land, so I didn't crack my fetch T1. This made me lose a lot of life and slowed down my clock, wich gave the oponent a great advantage. G2 Thalia just won me the game by slowing him down and making him waste a bunch of burn to kill her (and a couple of one drops, to stay alive). G3 Thalia once again bought me a lot of time, but I wasn't able to cast a hasty creature + atarka's commnand for lethal in the same turn because of her, loosing the match the very nexte turn.
In: +3 Thalias, +3 Lightning Helix
Out: -3 Path to exile, -2 Flinthoof Boar, -1 Rancor
Round 3: 2 x 0 Infect
Kept good hands, and even though I was on the draw G1, the opponent wasn't that fast. Plus, I had a lot of removal maindeck (and even more after SB). Was able to develop a fast clock with removal backup in both G1 and G2.
In: +1 Path, +3 Lightning Helix, +1 Natural State
Out: -4 Ghor Clan, -1 Rancor, -1 Flinthoof Boar
Round 4: 2 x 1 Bant Eldrazi
Lost G1 after Drowner of Hope hit the board. G2 I got a really fast hand, and managed to ghor-clan my way throught his dudes. G3 kept a hand with Kird Ape and 2 Geists. He kept a displacer and a bunch of dorks. After bolting his displacer, he didn't drawed any big threat, and I've drawed the last 2 Geists and a Goblin Guide. He kept hitting me with a 3/4 birds with a bunch of exalted triggers, and when he finally casted Drowner of Hope, I've just path him for the win.
In: +1 Path, +1 Deflecting Palm
Out: -2 Flinthoof Boar
Round 5: 2 x 0 RG Breach
G1 he couldn't ramp up fast enough to start hitting me with valakut, neither had an Anger of the Gods, so I just race to victory. G2 was a close one, but he made a wrong life counting, putting me down to 3 by ramping on his turn (no Titan) and leaving my creatures alive to hit for lethal next turn.
In: +3 Thalia, +1 Deflecting Palm
Out: -2 Flinthoof Boar, -2 Geist
Round 6: 2 x 0 Infect
Same as the last one. Bolt the elf G1, and he kept a blinkmoth and a forest G2, only to never reveal the third land for Goblin Guide.
In: +1 Path, +3 Lightning Helix, +1 Natural State
Out: -4 Ghor Clan, -1 Rancor, -1 Flinthoof Boar
Round 7: ID and locked to the top 8
Quarterfinals: 2 x 1 Dredge
G1 he easily outraced me with a ridiculous board, even though I was on the play. G2 his game was pretty slow, I've got really good draws and manage to win without SB cards. G3 kept a one land hand, droping Graffdiggers cage on T1. Eventually found the second land, and by the time he Abrupt Decayed the Cage, It was already too late. Plus, his dredges didn't droped many relevant cards in the graveyard, and he did not have the Gargadon+Bridge combo.
In: +1 Path, +2 Grafdiggers, +2 Scavenging Ooze
Out: -4 Geists, -1 Flinthoof Boar
Semifinals: 1 x 2 RW Land destruction
G1 I was on the play, kept a one land hand, and he T1 Flagstone, exile SSG, Boom/Bust my land. Then, Blood Moon on T3. GG. G2 Thalia turn 2 just won me the game, and by the time he casted Anger, I had lethal Burn in my hand. G3 he landed Blood Moon on T2, and I couldn't come back from it.
In: +3 Thalia, +2 Natural State
Out: -2 Path, -3 Geist
Very happy with the result overall. I think that Strangleroot Geist inclusion really paied off. The clock is just faster and he just makes removal really bad. Wasn't paired against Jund, though. I think he might really shine in that matchup. Sill not sure Thalia is really worth it against Burn. It delays the oponent's game plan a lot, but it also comes with the cost of slowing down my Helixes and Commands, wich is really relevant in a game that ends by turn 3-4
Glad to hear it. Another full league coming out tomorrow.
I ordered a old school firey justice cause of you lol, so yea. Dropped the second kozeliks return
Nice! Congratulations on the result! Interesting tech with Bojuka Bog. Also not a big fan of Worship on this deck.
I'm Ok on creating different threads. Even though they share the same origin, nowadays this are two different decks with different game (and sideboard) strategies that happens to have Wild Nacatl.
Played vs Affinity x2, Infect, UR Prowess, and Borzhov Control
Thanks! I do not recommend Geist if you run BTE+Bushwakeer, though, because of the lack of synergy with BTE (the deck is already very explosive and runs too many 2 drop). Since we don't have better one-drops besides those already in maindeck, I think he really compensates the aggro plan for the fact that it cost 2. Used to have 3 Eidolon of the Great Revel maindeck and the manabase was more focused on Red, but he was often sideboarded out, and is really bad in the currently metagame. Geist kinda do the same damage I expected from Eidolon, with the upside of being good against removal. Also opened 2 SB slots that I had for Voice of Resurgence, wich I thought it was no longer needed.
Overall, I think if you use burning-tree, go all in on her. If youre not, then dont, and use better white cards like kytheon and loam lion.
Thats my 2c.
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/480269#paper
I do not wish for my post in reply to be considered spam, but I wanted to add a +1 to this post. Outside of both being Naya (or maybe RGx) based aggro decks, they are really quite different. It might cut down on the replies for either specific thread, but it would reduce some confusion. Now up to four cents?
The answer to that is no. This deck will never be promoted like that, since you will get even less result.
The deck isnt extremely different, as much as people want it to seem to be. They use the exact same core. True, they are getting more distant, but neither one has enough data to say "naya company is tier 1 gruul is tier 3 so it separates."
We did this before 2 years ago and what happened was there was 3 zoo threads, and none were really replied to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WleVseWyLvY
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers: