Also. Ill stream Saturday on twitch. 11am -1 pm. Ill be testin out gruul vs collected, theory crafting building both decks based on results, and looking at wacker, dryad arbor, and natural state.
Also. Ill stream Saturday on twitch. 11am -1 pm. Ill be testin out gruul vs collected, theory crafting building both decks based on results, and looking at wacker, dryad arbor, and natural state.
Will you give the Knightfall combo another try in this new meta? I know there is a dedicated thread for it, but Im not sold on Bant and still favour your old 4C Knightfall Zoo even when lands are too fragile in this meta.
Oh and will you upload the stream VOD to youtube later? Im not sure if I will be able to watch it live.
I'm more hoping to get how to beat the Eldrazi deck. I've been bricked by Thought-knot seer all week. I feel like before the match up was fine now that card makes it real hard to battle through.
3-0 a 8 man tonight. Deck felt really good even though I never drew any sideboard cards i didn't drop a single game. I don't know how to do the deck list thing but I'll type it out still.
4 nobles
4 necatil
4 Goyf
4 knight of the reliquary
4 bolt
4 path
3 pridemage
3 ooze
3 smiter
3 coco
1 birds of paradise
1 elspeth knight errand
4 Wooded foothills
4 windswept Heath
3 arid Mesa
2 sacred foundry
2 forest
1 plains
1 stomping ground
1 temple garden
1 stirring wildwood
1 ghost quarter
1 kessig
1 horizon canopy
Sb: a bit make shift
3 kor firewalker
2 EE
2 blood moon
3 voice of resurgence
2 stony silence
1 kataki
1 choke
1 grim lavamancer
The match ups were UR mill, burn and Grixis control.
3-0 a 8 man tonight. Deck felt really good even though I never drew any sideboard cards i didn't drop a single game. I don't know how to do the deck list thing but I'll type it out still.
4 nobles
4 necatil
4 Goyf
4 knight of the reliquary
4 bolt
4 path
3 pridemage
3 ooze
3 smiter
3 coco
1 birds of paradise
1 elspeth knight errand
4 Wooded foothills
4 windswept Heath
3 arid Mesa
2 sacred foundry
2 forest
1 plains
1 stomping ground
1 temple garden
1 stirring wildwood
1 ghost quarter
1 kessig
1 horizon canopy
Sb: a bit make shift
3 kor firewalker
2 EE
2 blood moon
3 voice of resurgence
2 stony silence
1 kataki
1 choke
1 grim lavamancer
The match ups were UR mill, burn and Grixis control.
In the bigger zoo lists I like Fracturing Gustas narrow affinity hate, and Bonfire of the Damned as a little wider little creature hate. I highly suggest giving either or both a try in your list, I've never been a big fan of Stony Silence, because the Affinity deck can easily slip under it on the play, and even if you do get it off before they have a chance to do anything, they can still have fairly nutty Signal Pest draws. I also really like the 4th copy of Qasali Pridemage in the 75, you could probably cut down from 3 Oozes to fit one in the main.
I'm more hoping to get how to beat the Eldrazi deck. I've been bricked by Thought-knot seer all week. I feel like before the match up was fine now that card makes it real hard to battle through.
I have sideboard cards being shipped to me now. Once they arrive the voice's are coming out and 2 Thanlia's and a Bonfire is going in. I also want to get a magus of the moon in there too. I've been playing affinity for a while and have never been afraid of stony silence. Path, bolt and pridemage on top of bonfire, lavamancer and EE from the side board feels like enough hate for affinity. Maybe if boggles becomes popular then i would consider fracturing gust. The stony silence are mainly for Tron and Eldrazi. Before i make a final decision on the sideboard i'm going to get a bit more experience with the deck but i am very happy with the mainboard so far. Thanks for the advice though.
Birds over Nobles because that's what I have right now and couldn't get to borrow the Hierarchs.
Any comments? Don't really know what to expect of the meta other than few blue decks.
So, how did it go? Against which matchups did you board in Domri and did he perform well?
Lost in Top4.
Won 2-0 vs Burn (got lucky in the first game, I was at 4 life and he had Atarka's Command in hand and drew only lands for a couple turns while I killed him)
Won 2-1 vs Living End (here I boarded Domri in, since he refuels my hand and can act as removal if needed. Ooze won me G3 alone)
Won 2-1 vs Jund (Domri came in again, as it gives me resources in a match where your opponent wants to outgrind you)
Won 2-1 vs RG Breach (Got Breach-Emrakull'd G2 but I was too fast G1 and G3 for him to keep up)
ID
ID
Top 8 won 2-1 vs Affinity (Found a late Stony Silence G2 which shut off his Spellskite allowing me a couple turns later to kill one of his Signal Pests that was attacking me for lethal, then I went to 1 and killed him on the backswing. G3 my opp on the play drew an extra card, so the judge ruled that he would have to show me the hand and I would choose one of the cards for him to shuffle back. I took out his Etched Champion and my hand of 2 lands, Stony Silence and dudes got there)
Lost Top4 2-1 to Abzan Midrange (G1 I was too fast for him, G2 he gained some time with Lingering Souls and removals/Liliana and kept removing my big threats. G3 I mull'd to 5 and kept a one lander and even drawing the lands I needed, I got out of resources soon. Should have kept the hand of 7, which was also one lander, but had 2 Nacatls, 1 Birds and 2 Paths. Domri came in again, same reason as the Jund matchup)
Overall, really liked this decklist. Brimaz and Thoctar were real MVPs. Whenever I played any of them, or they got instantly removed or they turned the game in my favor. In my last match I missed having Sigarda/Bonfire in my sideboard and I felt 2 Spellskites were too much for the meta (which was really full of Burn, had some number of Tron and BGx and, as far as I could see, no Infect/Boggles)
Hey guys, it's been a while since I've posted in the zoo thread but I haven't noticed any talk about reckless bushwhacker. I've been testing a Gruul Zoo iteration with him and it has been amazing.
The 3 skullcracks in the side are just filler for the time being because I don't know what else to run. The mutagenic growth+reckless bushwhacker or Burning-Tree Emissary+Reckless Bushwhacker combo hasn't been difficult to to pull off in any of the testing. Bushwhacker also has haste so he's not too bad of a top deck.
Reckless Bushwhacker certainly intrigues me (it seems to be a better fit than the likes of Tarmogoyf in RG Small Zoo), but doesn't 4 copies strike you as a tad greedy? It's a virtual T3 play unless it's combined with the likes of Burning-Tree Emissary or Mutagenic Growth.
They don't need to, mostly, at least in my opinion. The way I play my versions of Zoo (Which is not CoCo Zoo, but very similar) is similar to Jund. Resource trades and early attacks. The main difference being that our Creature removal comes in combat and not in the main phase. CoCo Zoo is not trying to bash through for 12 damage in the first three turns, nor does it need to. Giving a 5/5 Knight of the Reliquary +1/+1 is pretty meh. In some situations it does speed up the clock, but mostly it's no better than a two mana deal three damage and a third of a giant growth. If you spew a bunch of guys out in the first three turns and then use it, it's a lot better as it turns into "Add 4 Power to your guys on turn three and deal three damage".
Tl;DR It works a lot better with small quick creatures, and in decks where you flood the board before your opponent does much of anything.
Reckless Bushwhacker certainly intrigues me (it seems to be a better fit than the likes of Tarmogoyf in RG Small Zoo), but doesn't 4 copies strike you as a tad greedy? It's a virtual T3 play unless it's combined with the likes of Burning-Tree Emissary or Mutagenic Growth.
I think 4 is going to end up being correct in the small zoo lists. Even if it is a turn 3 play, you've hasted up a Nacatl or a Kird Ape and added an additional point of power to the board. Worst case scenario is that you have to bolt the face and surge it, or just cast a 2/1 Haster for R2. All in all, I feel like the upside is way better than the downside, not to mention I think I like the builds of little zoo that are more all in on BTE, it just seems right to me, you know?
I have a Modern event I'm going to this weekend and this is what I'm about to sleeve up. Anyone have input? Also I'm new to the archetype. What are typical sideboard swaps?
Figured since I'm talking Zoo again, I might as well post my list. This was theorycrafted after the bannings and I've been a huge fan of it. With anticipation of creature decks on the rise, the Helixes and Finks main have been really great in testing. Chandra allows us to go long in the game, not that it was a problem anyway. I'm a big believer in Gideon again, especially with Jund on the rise, he's been INSANE. Probably moving up to another in the board, possibly one main even. I really like my sideboard, even though I have yet to get Crumble to Dusts, but other than that I've been very happy with how the deck performs. I've dropped 1 of like 20 matches, and it was only because I mulled into oblivion. Haven't really have to play against any of the Snapcaster Blue decks either, so that could be a contributing factor as well.
I have a Modern event I'm going to this weekend and this is what I'm about to sleeve up. Anyone have input? Also I'm new to the archetype. What are typical sideboard swaps?
My one comment is that I could see you having mana issues. I'm all about playing a low land count in order to have the most live draws in Small Zoo but when you have 20 possible mana sourcs and 6 aren't usable turn one, seems like you'd be running into issues of not being able to play anything turn one (as only 14 of them can be used turn one). That turn one play is crucial to a deck like this.
I would change out some number of your Windbrisk Heights or Dryad Arbor into something that can be tapped on the first turn that you play it.
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Will you give the Knightfall combo another try in this new meta? I know there is a dedicated thread for it, but Im not sold on Bant and still favour your old 4C Knightfall Zoo even when lands are too fragile in this meta.
Oh and will you upload the stream VOD to youtube later? Im not sure if I will be able to watch it live.
4 nobles
4 necatil
4 Goyf
4 knight of the reliquary
4 bolt
4 path
3 pridemage
3 ooze
3 smiter
3 coco
1 birds of paradise
1 elspeth knight errand
4 Wooded foothills
4 windswept Heath
3 arid Mesa
2 sacred foundry
2 forest
1 plains
1 stomping ground
1 temple garden
1 stirring wildwood
1 ghost quarter
1 kessig
1 horizon canopy
Sb: a bit make shift
3 kor firewalker
2 EE
2 blood moon
3 voice of resurgence
2 stony silence
1 kataki
1 choke
1 grim lavamancer
The match ups were UR mill, burn and Grixis control.
In the bigger zoo lists I like Fracturing Gustas narrow affinity hate, and Bonfire of the Damned as a little wider little creature hate. I highly suggest giving either or both a try in your list, I've never been a big fan of Stony Silence, because the Affinity deck can easily slip under it on the play, and even if you do get it off before they have a chance to do anything, they can still have fairly nutty Signal Pest draws. I also really like the 4th copy of Qasali Pridemage in the 75, you could probably cut down from 3 Oozes to fit one in the main.
This is actually a tricky issue to deal with - barring running it over with a huge Voice Elemental, a big Knight of the Reliquary, or a Loxodon Smiter/Woolly Thoctar backed up by one or more Exalted triggers, you really don't have many options. Using a Path to Exile on it feels bad, because there are bigger fish to fry (Reality Smasher, Conduit of Ruin, Oblivion Sower, and especially Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger). Maybe Flame Slash or Roast?
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
So, how did it go? Against which matchups did you board in Domri and did he perform well?
Lost in Top4.
Won 2-0 vs Burn (got lucky in the first game, I was at 4 life and he had Atarka's Command in hand and drew only lands for a couple turns while I killed him)
Won 2-1 vs Living End (here I boarded Domri in, since he refuels my hand and can act as removal if needed. Ooze won me G3 alone)
Won 2-1 vs Jund (Domri came in again, as it gives me resources in a match where your opponent wants to outgrind you)
Won 2-1 vs RG Breach (Got Breach-Emrakull'd G2 but I was too fast G1 and G3 for him to keep up)
ID
ID
Top 8 won 2-1 vs Affinity (Found a late Stony Silence G2 which shut off his Spellskite allowing me a couple turns later to kill one of his Signal Pests that was attacking me for lethal, then I went to 1 and killed him on the backswing. G3 my opp on the play drew an extra card, so the judge ruled that he would have to show me the hand and I would choose one of the cards for him to shuffle back. I took out his Etched Champion and my hand of 2 lands, Stony Silence and dudes got there)
Lost Top4 2-1 to Abzan Midrange (G1 I was too fast for him, G2 he gained some time with Lingering Souls and removals/Liliana and kept removing my big threats. G3 I mull'd to 5 and kept a one lander and even drawing the lands I needed, I got out of resources soon. Should have kept the hand of 7, which was also one lander, but had 2 Nacatls, 1 Birds and 2 Paths. Domri came in again, same reason as the Jund matchup)
Overall, really liked this decklist. Brimaz and Thoctar were real MVPs. Whenever I played any of them, or they got instantly removed or they turned the game in my favor. In my last match I missed having Sigarda/Bonfire in my sideboard and I felt 2 Spellskites were too much for the meta (which was really full of Burn, had some number of Tron and BGx and, as far as I could see, no Infect/Boggles)
WGUBR 5c Humans
GWR Naya Zoo
Legacy:
GW GW Maverick
R Goblins
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
Here's the list:
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Forest
1 Mountain
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Flinthoof Boar
4 Goblin Guide
4 Kird Ape
4 Reckless Bushwhacker
3 Ghor-Clan Rampager
Other (14)
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Path to Exile
4 Atarka's Command
3 Mutagenic Growth
3 Dragon's Claw
3 Destructive Revelry
3 Skullcrack
3 Molten Rain
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Path to Exile
The 3 skullcracks in the side are just filler for the time being because I don't know what else to run. The mutagenic growth+reckless bushwhacker or Burning-Tree Emissary+Reckless Bushwhacker combo hasn't been difficult to to pull off in any of the testing. Bushwhacker also has haste so he's not too bad of a top deck.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
Tl;DR It works a lot better with small quick creatures, and in decks where you flood the board before your opponent does much of anything.
I think 4 is going to end up being correct in the small zoo lists. Even if it is a turn 3 play, you've hasted up a Nacatl or a Kird Ape and added an additional point of power to the board. Worst case scenario is that you have to bolt the face and surge it, or just cast a 2/1 Haster for R2. All in all, I feel like the upside is way better than the downside, not to mention I think I like the builds of little zoo that are more all in on BTE, it just seems right to me, you know?
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
4 Experiment One
4 Wild Nactle
4 Kird Ape
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Tarmogofy
2 Ghor-Clan Rampager
2 Reckless Bushwacker
4 Atarka's Command
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
4 Wooded Foorhills
4 Windswept Heath
3 Arid Mesa
3 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Forest
1 Mountain
3 Molten Rain
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Destructive Revelry
1 Blood Moon
2 Pyroclasm
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Kitchen Finks
1 Back to Nature
I have a Modern event I'm going to this weekend and this is what I'm about to sleeve up. Anyone have input? Also I'm new to the archetype. What are typical sideboard swaps?
Thank you so much mchief111 for the amazing art!
BUG is the Jund of EDH!
Modern: Jund, Grixis Delver, Bant Eldrazi, TitanShift
Commander: Brago, Yidris, Mizzix, Marath, Atheros, Daretti
4 Path to Exile
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Wild Nacatl
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Qasali Pridemage
2 Voice of Resurgence
2 Lightning Helix
2 Kitchen Finks
2 Loxodon Smiter
3 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Ghor-Clan Rampager
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Stomping Ground
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Temple Garden
1 Stirring Wildwood
1 Treetop Village
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Plains
2 Forest
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Arid Mesa
4 Windswept Heath
2 Fracturing Gust
1 Destructive Revelry
1 Stony silence
3 Bonfire of the Damned
2 Sowing Salt
1 Lightning Helix
2 Choke
2 Rest in Peace
My one comment is that I could see you having mana issues. I'm all about playing a low land count in order to have the most live draws in Small Zoo but when you have 20 possible mana sourcs and 6 aren't usable turn one, seems like you'd be running into issues of not being able to play anything turn one (as only 14 of them can be used turn one). That turn one play is crucial to a deck like this.
I would change out some number of your Windbrisk Heights or Dryad Arbor into something that can be tapped on the first turn that you play it.