Overview of the Deck
Hello all – in case you don’t know me (and why should you), my name is Hans Christian Ljungqvist – Beast_with_2_backs on Magic Online, and I previously popularized the budget Mono-Green Stompy deck piloting it to a top 8 at the 2014 Bazaar of Moxen tournament. If you are familiar with that deck you will probably notice some similarities in the creature package of my newest creation.
I’ve recently had a lot of success with a R/U/G version of the traditional budget U/G Evolve deck – managing a couple of competitive League 5-0’s. I wanted to share this deck with you all since WotC recently published a decklist of mine and the deck gained some traction from being featured in both the GAM Podcast episode 56, a TCGPlayer article by Seth Manfield, an SCG Daily Digest by Ross Merriam and finally an MTGGoldfish Instant Deck Tech.
The deck was originally called Harambe due to the abundance of great apes in the maindeck with Pongify, Kird Ape and Hooting Mandrils. Over time however both Kird Ape and Hooting Mandrils gave way to better cards in the form of Narnam Renegade and Avatar of the Resolute, so the name that seems to stick now is Blue Zoo.
However – I need your help in evolving the deck (pun intended) as right now the deck is still in its infancy as is evident by the somewhat rough numbers in the maindeck and the sideboard.
3 reasons why you should play Blue Zoo:
It’s fast! It’s cheap! And it’s a LOT of fun to play – blowing your opponent out with a random collection of draft unplayables appeals to a certain kind of people (not the Lantern kind of people – those are bad people). If you are one of those people – keep reading!
The difference between my list and the more general budget Evolve lists is that I am not trying to build an all-in Evolve deck. This is not the second coming of Hardened Scales or Winding Constrictor. Rather it is my attempt at building a tempo/aggro deck in Modern and in my opinion the Evolve/Undying creatures serve that role better than Delver of Secrets. Given that there are no free permission spells like Daze or Force of Will in Modern, playing protect the queen is often a losing proposition, and even a dedicated deck like Grixis Shadow has trouble protecting it’s threats. Blue Zoo however has a multitude of threats and Pongify/Hybridization serve as pseudo-threats.
Narnam Renegade Avatar of the Resolute
These two cards serve as the filler-threats of the deck while still synergizing with the main theme of +1/+1 counters. Narnam Renegade is by itself a decent threat and in my opinion the only viable 4th 1-drop available to the deck. Also with the conspicuous absence of Kird Ape, Narnam Renegade has to play the role of honorary ape. In this deck, Avatar of the Resolute is a powerhouse for only 2 green mana and will frequently enter the battlefield as a 5/4 or bigger, easily trumping what other fair decks have access to for 2 mana. The Avatar's synergy with the rest of the deck is one of the main reasons to not play Tarmogoyf in the 2-drop slot. The Trample is also quite relevant as Pongify effects allow for instant speed removal of blockers on the Avatar.
Spell Pierce Vapor Snag Lightning Bolt
These cards serve as your relevant game 1 interaction and are chosen for their flexibility - the sideboard includes more specific answers for different matchups. Vapor Snag, while seemingly a bit underpowered, works well in the situations where you have to smash an opposing creature – bouncing the token allows for a free attack. While spending 2 cards to remove 1 card is not optimal, being a tempo deck with a very fast clock, we can sometimes allow ourselves a 2-for-1 and still maintain a superior board presence. Lightning Bolt serves the dual role of killing roadblocks and allowing the deck to have a bit of reach to close games out.
Chart a Course
This recent addition from Ixalan serves as the most mana-efficient refueling card available in the R/U/G colors. While traditional cantrips aren’t effective enough in this type of deck, Chart a Course’s rate of 2 cards for 2 mana is a very good rate for a tempo deck.
The manabase is currently built to support 3 things:
First of, every single mana source provides green mana. This is a necessity, as 12 of our 1-drops cost green mana. Only 4 of the lands do not produce blue mana, which means that we will almost always have access to Cloudfin Raptor turn 1 if we want it.
Secondly, the deck has 10 fetches – currently tied with Burn for the second highest number of fetches in a Modern deck (Death’s Shadow decks tops that list with 12!). This allows us the luxury of only playing 2 Stomping Ground and means we usually always have a way of triggering Revolt on Narnam Renegade.
The third point is the Dryad Arbor. While traditionally Dryad Arbor serves as Liliana of the Veil protection for creature combo decks like Infect and Bogles, the Dryad Arbor in Blue Zoo serves as a low-cost way to get the engine rolling. It serves as free fodder for Pongify/Hybridization and is able to trigger Cloudfin Raptor on it’s own. While the deck only plays 18 lands, the lack of card selection means that you will occasionally flood out a bit. Having access to an extra attacker or a surprise blocker is very valuable.
As for the sideboard cards, the deck is generally quite flexible, so you have a lot of options to choose from. While many of the cards that I have included are meant for fairly good matchups, my approach to sideboarding is often to make decent/even matchups even better postboard rather than try to fix some of the abysmal matchups (Bogles for instance is virtually unwinnable). The only card I would strongly advise against tinkering with is Ancient Grudge, as it is the pillar of postboard strategies against the artifact based tier 1 decks. Some of you may notice that I include no graveyard hate in the sideboard. This is mostly since the relevant cards either hurt us too much (Grafdigger’s Cage) or just don’t do enough in Modern (Surgical Extraction). Apart from that, the Graveyard based decks are usually fine matchups – Dredge for instance is easily on of the best matchups, since it turns out that dead creatures block very poorly.
The case against 3-drops:
I’m going to spend a few lines explaining why the deck doesn’t play any 3-drops despite a prevalence of powerful cards available in the R/U/G colors. The most obvious choices would probably be Kitchen Finks and Nissa, Voice of Zendikar in the sideboard for the grindier matchups and honorary 3-drops like Snapcaster Mage and Hooting Mandrills in the maindeck.
The reasons for not playing the more mana-intensive cards are two-fold. First of all, my core philosophy for the deck is that it should be able to operate off of 2 lands, similar to the Burn deck’s ability to function on only 2 lands. Having only 18 lands with no filtering means that you will often have games where you never see the third land or choose to prioritize a Dryad Arbor over a third shock. Second of all, the deck is a tempo deck that usually shouldn't tap out past turn 2 or 3 but rather keep up interaction for whatever the opponent is doing.
Tapping out for a 3-drop is very dangerous in Modern, as a lot of decks will be able to punish you for it by either winning on the spot or by deploying their more impactful cards. That being said, both Nissa, Voice of Zendikar and Kitchen Finks are very decent choices for the sideboard, I just firmly believe that cheaper, more targeted cards, can serve the same role.
Guide to Playing the Deck
First off – as anyone who has played with the Undying/Evolve creatures are aware, the combination of an Evolve creature + Pongify effect + Young Wolf = 8 power on the board on turn 2. That is one of the main draws to playing the deck – a lot of decks simply can’t keep up with that kind of opener. If you are unfamiliar with the math, the way it works is that you stack the triggers in such a way that the Evolve trigger from the token produced by the Pongify effect goes on the stack first and then the evolve trigger from your undying creature returning to the battlefield goes on top allowing both Evolve triggers to resolve as Evolve checks on resolution.
The approach to playing the deck is “get ahead – stay ahead”. This approach requires you to be able to get on the board early and interact at relevant levels with your opponent at a mana discount. The playstyle resembles a mix between Zoo and Legacy R/U/G Delver. While it is possible to play Blue Zoo purely like an aggro deck, I strongly discourage you from doing so – instead try to establish a dominant board presence and force your opponent to respond to it rather than just piling on. Knowing when to smash your own creatures with a Pongify effect and when to smash the opponent’s creatures is the most complex part of playing the deck.
Matchups
Affinity:
This one can be a bit rough – Affinity has a fast clock and a number of hard-to-deal-with threats. The games are very play/draw dependent, but the key to winning is to continuously apply pressure while trying to deal with their haymakers. Prioritize getting Steel Overseer off the table, as he can really ruin your day. Arcbound Ravager is not the end of the world, as keeping one mana open means your opponent has to respect your ability to interact with a Ravager target. This matchup drastically improves postboard.
Grixis Shadow:
Quite positive matchup – we are very fast, even for Modern standards. The Grixis player will have a very hard time punching through, as Blue Zoo blocks exceptionally well due to the Undying creatures and Narnam Renegade. Don’t be afraid to smash a Shadow that has grown too large. Do make sure to finish the game quickly however, as their superior card quality will take over once they get rid of all the air in the deck.
Eldrazi Tron:
One of the hardest matchups for Blue Zoo – the early game revolves around you being able to handle a Chalice of the Void for one. This is almost impossible to do game 1 and is one of the main reasons for including Ancient Grudge in the board. Apart from that, the deck is able to stall the ground quite effectively with big bodies and annoying card like Matter Reshaper.
Jeskai Control:
Very positive matchup – they rely on single target removal, which Pongify effects severely punish. The only card you need to worry about is Anger of the Gods. Otherwise it’s smooth sailing.
Storm:
Quite positive matchup – the combination of a fast clock and relevant disruption is just what the doctor ordered against the pure combo mages. Prioritize keeping removal up rather than counterspells.
Humans:
Even to negative matchup – we are faster, but they have a number of incredibly annoying cards like the two Thalias. Don’t get caught off guard by a Reflector Mage – keep a Pongify effect up if you can!
Burn:
Positive matchup – we goldfish as fast as burn and are quickly able to outmatch their groundbeaters. The only drawback is our manabase, which means you have to fetch carefully in order to not hurt yourself too much. Postboard a resolved Life Goes On means game over for Burn.
G/X Tron:
Even to positive matchup – Tron games feel quite lopsided. We either win very fast leaving them with no relevant way to interact or they manage to land a haymaker in time to stem the bleeding. Wurmcoil, Ugin and Oblivion Stone are the real issues here, whereas Karn and Ulamog are usually manageable. Counterspells work wonders postboard.
Titanshift:
Negative to even matchup – Our interaction lines up poorly against Titanshift meaning we are forced to race and overextend. The presence of Anger of the Gods makes life hard for our motley crew. Try to keep a hand that goldfishes turn 4.
Counters Company:
Even matchup – our interaction is very relevant, but the deck wouldn’t be a contender if it wasn’t able to grind through a few lightning bolts. Kitchen Finks is also a very annoying card. That being said, the deck has a lot of air and Blue Zoo will punch through eventually, given enough time.
U/W Control:
Positive matchup – they are by far the slowest of the controlling decks and their interaction is quite expensive like Detention Sphere and Supreme Verdict. Don’t overextend into a Supreme Verdict unless you’re doing it with Undying creatures, but make sure to still keep enough power on the board to be able to pressure their planeswalkers.
Lantern Control:
Negative matchup – our inability to remove Ensnaring Bridge game 1 means the preboarded games are very lopsided. Postboard we have a lot of interaction but will often have to win two sideboarded games.
B/G/X midrange:
Negative to even matchup – Jund and Abzan have a number of annoying cards. While Liliana of the Veil does very little against Blue Zoo (and may even be a liability), Tarmogoyf and Scavenging Ooze present real problems. The Scavenging Ooze needs to die on sight as it invalidates a large part of our gameplan. As for the Goyf, the stage of the game decides how the old Lhurgoyf should be handled. Experience tells me that it is usually correct to smash him and move on, taking the 2-for-1 in stride.
Alternate Card Choices Atarka's Command
Atarka's Command is a very powerful card in traditional Zoo decks and often serves as a powerful finisher or as a way to cheat the combat math. I have alternated between 0 and 2 copies in the maindeck, but with the recent addition of Chart a Course, I have found that I prefer leaning towards being able to grind better rather than building a glass-cannony approach.
Dismember
Dismember is a very powerful card against certain decks and has been in and out of the deck over the past year. If your meta includes a lot of B/G/X and Eldrazi Tron it is probably correct to include some number of Dismembers in the maindeck to deal with their threats.
Grim Lavamancer
Grim Lavamancer is a highly efficient card with plenty of fodder in Blue Zoo. The biggest drawback is the amount of stress he puts on the manabase, requiring red mana every turn and occasionally forcing awkward fetches.
Remand
Remand is the traditional counterspell of choice for tempo decks. My biggest concern however is the 2 mana cost, which locks you into keeping mana up while also being awful when you're behind.
Mana Leak
Mana Leak suffers from some of the same problems as Remand. Keeping 2 mana up is a tall order for Blue Zoo and will lock you into a losing play pattern if you're forced to keep it up as early as turn 2.
Scavenging Ooze
Scavenging Ooze is super effective and could arguably be the best type of graveyard interaction for the deck. Old Scoozy is however very mana intensive and with no way of protecting him, he will rarely get to live long enough to take over the game.
Forked Bolt
Forked Bolt is another very effective card in the right meta. I currently don't feel the need for the split effect as there are very few creatures with 1 toughness in the meta apart from Noble Hierarch and Birds of Paradise.
Spell Snare
Spell Snare is one of the most effective 1 mana counterspells in Modern, but it's value tends to fluctuate with the meta. At the moment Spell Snare is only really good against Affinity and Storm and a virtually dead card against a deck like Eldrazi Tron.
Hooting Mandrils
Hooting Mandrils was originally one of the core creatures in the deck, but was cut due to the lack of synergy with the +1/+1 counter theme and the occasional games where you're not putting enough cards in your graveyard or you are met with graveyard hate. While the powerlevel of the Mandrils is on par with what the deck is capable of, the situations where I couldn't play the apes made me cut it.
Rancor
Rancor is another powerful card that serves as a repeatable source of damage while also providing some much-loved Trample. The card has been in and out of the deck but was eventually cut completely due to the danger of getting blown out by a removal spell on the Rancor target.
Bioshift
Never go full retard! The same goes for Hunger of the Howlpack, Master Biomancer and other cards in that category. You're basically turning a competitive deck into a kitchen table deck...
I think the guildmage is overrated to be honest. We have no way of protecting him and his abilities are so-so imo. He does not impact the board immediately or leave somehting behind when he dies. Best case scenario is drawing a card off of an undying creature with a counter on it. That is both slow and doesn't advance the board. Without the guildmage, there seems to be no need for vial.
Your build seems to be missing the Dryad Arbor, which is crucial in getting the train rolling. Also Young Wolf is the best card in the deck - if you want to shave, shave a Renegade instead.
My experience tells me that the red splash is very necessary - you're not beating Storm or G/W Company without Bolt for instance, and the Bolts often speed up your clock or take out pesky cards like Scavenging Ooze. Post sideboard, you're not beating Lantern or Affinity without Bolt and Ancient Grudge.
If I wanted to play without red, I would add the 4th Avatar, add a Vapor Snag and probably play two more counterspells of some sort.
Winding Constrictor doesn't do what you want it to do in this deck. The Evolve creatures would still only end up with 2 counters from a Pongify on an Undying creature, as Evolve checks on resolution. Also, the black Undying creatures suck except for Geralf's, which is uncastable in a 3-color deck.
Getting a 2/2 for 2 is not on rate imo. Since we can't protect our creatures, I don't think it makes much sense to play creatures with late-game potential. Avatar is the exception since he is so massive and always evolves our other creatures.
If you want to stay Simic, I suggest you replace the Bolts with 3 Dismember and the 4th Avatar and add a forest and a Sanctum to my manabase to replace the Stomping Grounds.
Any reason for not having Relic in the SB for GY's ?
Seems much better than a narrow card like Magma Spray which isnt a great removal spell anyway and go to the face
(like Pillar of Flame/Forked Bolt).
Playing only one forest as a basic land is rather greedy as well, I'd at least add an island.
Besides the Blood Moon issue PtE and Ghost Quarter/Field of Ruin become extremely good against this deck with the current setup.
The reason for not having GY hate is that the GY based decks are usually very good matchups. I would probably go with Surgical if I wanted GY hate.
Magma Spray is far from perfect, and is probably not good enough atm to see play. Dismember instead is a viable option. Alternately you could jam something like Flame Slash? I'm close to cutting the Chart a Courses from the MD and replacing them with 2x Atarka's Command, as speed seems to be the way to go atm.
Unified Will specifically serves as a counter against the heavier decks like Titanshift, Ad Nauseam and different Tron versions - being able to tag any spell is more important than the conditionality. If you don't have more creatures on the board than your opponent, you're probably losing anyway...
The manabase is extremely greedy and Blood Moon is a serious issue (just not serious enough that I actually want to dedicate cards to it). Most GQ/FoR decks however are very slow, meaning we can usually race them regardless of them popping a land. The U/G version of the deck doesn't have this issue though, but suffers from other issues :-(
Have you considered adding the Temur Battle Rage + Become Immense package to the deck ?
It is pretty effective at closing out games where the opponent has stabilized/clogged the board to deal a big chunk of damage out of nowhere to "steal" the game.
I'd cut the Narnam Renegades and Chart a Course for this as those seem like the weakest cards in the deck.
Also, what do you think about Swan Song for this deck over Dispel in the SB ?
It catches more spells and is on theme as another "Pongify"-like effect.
Here is how I'd tweak the deck to add the "double strike combo":
If anyone is generally lurking on this thread, I would love some input on the possibility of creating a less painful manabase based on fastlands. Wwould need to find a replacement for Narnam probably
You often want U or G on turn 1. I don't see it as feasible to include the UR or RG fastlands, you will have to mull hands often. Sanctum is acceptable because it supplies your T1 needs either way, and then any supplementary color (R) can be fetched. And no, Narnam fits quite smoothly into what you are doing here, I don't think he should be dropped.
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I'm somewhat confused. If I have, say, a 2/2 Experiment One in play, and a 3/3 comes in to play for me, and I have a Hardened Scales in play, you're saying the Experiment One will only become a 3/3 and not a 4/4?
No, in that scenario u'll get a 4/4 E1, but the most common scenario is Pongifying a Young Wolf with a 1/1 E1 or 1/2 Raptor on the board. In that scenario u'll get two triggers, one from the 2/2 Wolf and one from the 3/3 Ape token. The Experiment will however only become a 3/3, as it will trigger 2 counters from the 2/2 Wolf, and then no counters from the 3/3 Ape.
Okay, so it does work as I thought. So yes, no value on the Experiment One in that scenario, but you would still get a 3/3 Young Wolf out of the deal. Additionally, in that scenario if the base creature had been a Cloudfin Raptor you'd end up with a 4/5 Cloudfin (since the first evolve would make it a 2/3 instead of a 1/2) instead of a 3/4. Your Undying creatures get an extra counter regardless as does your Avatar. Additionally, the pattern of having a 3/3 E1 with a Strangleroot Geist in play, and then Hybridizing the Geist gets you a 4/3 Geist and a 5/5 Experiment One.
I mean, I can see the argument for it not being good, it's always the case with Anthem effects that you're playing an enchantment instead of just adding another creature to the board and in this case you end up needing the anthem out first so it's delaying your board development and maybe that means it's not worth the slot, but I think the effect is more powerful than you're giving it credit for.
It's certainly powerful - no doubt about that. It could perhaps do some lifting in the matchups where your opponent threatens to outclass your creatures like E-Tron, B/G/x and Humans. In all honesty, I would probably prefer having a Dismember over Hardened Scales in those matchups though.
Awesome deck you've built and/or tuned! As RUG is my favourite colour combination in addition to Jund, I just had to build the deck on MODO after watching Sam Pardee's video on CFB. That's how I found this thread as well so it's good that you posted the link in the comments.
My sample size is really small, but here's few things that I've noticed nevertheless:
- Land count feels too low, at least I've had to mulligan way too many one landers in the short time that I've played with the deck. The deck functions really well with just two lands, but it wants those two lands badly. 4th Botanical Sanctum is what I ended adding quickly.
- Chart the Course felt a bit underwhelming (even though I want to 'find a home for it') so it's the first card that I would also change.
- I'm not sure if I feel that 8 enablers (undying creatures) and 8 payoffs (Pongify) is the right amount. I do understand that Dryad Arbor also enables the Pongifies, but still they're only really good with the undying creatures.
Few cards that I want to try:
- Greenbelt Rampager, definitely a one-off, but it has nice synergy with evolve creatures as well as enabling revolt.
- Smuggler's Copter, I'd say maximum two of these, but evasion feels really valuable as well as looting (to exchange excess lands for gas) for the deck. It doesn't make the kill faster the same way as Atarka's Command, but I feel that it might be a good fit for the deck. Also nice synergy with Greenbelt Rampager (crew in response to energy trigger) and Dryad Arbor.
I'm currently testing a version with the following differences:
-2 Chart the Course
-1 Rapid Hybridization
+1 Botanical Sanctum
+1 Smuggler's Copter
+1 Greenbelt Rampager
I'll post findings and musings after playing with the deck much more.
One league played. Went 3-2 losing to Ad Nauseam and 4c Shadow. Won Abzan Midrange, G/R eldrazi and Green Tron. Never saw Greenbelt and Smugglers Copter felt very solid. Ended up playing slightly more aggro build cutting Spell pierces from MD in favor of second Copter and third Vapor Snag.
Summary of changes from original list:
-2 chart the course
-2 Spell pierce
-1 rapid hybridization
+1 botanical sanctum
+2 smugglers copter
+1 greenbelt rampager
+1 vapor snag
I really like the idea of Copter, seems like it could keep up a good grind. Not sure about the Rampager though. 3 mana for a 3/4 seem a bit tough, even with the evolve triggers - that being said, he might work. And thanks for the kind words
About the Elephant, I would say that at the moment I do like the first Greenbelt Rampager over the eigth Pongify, as they both tick the 'evolve enabling' box. I wouldn't think of Rampager as a three mana 3/4, but as card that by itself triggers Evolve multiple times and is also a 3/4 body in the end. I value also the fact that it can make Evolution One's 4/4 highly.
Reckless Rage from Rivals of Ixalan might be one more potential SB card for the deck. Or it might be horrible and trying too hard..
Hi there, I like the deck but I have a question. You say that Tron is one of your hardest matchups, but I don't see any Ghost Quarter in the 75.
Isn't it worth the spot? I mean it fights tron well and also trigger's revolt. you could also in a bad scenario destroy the own land to trigger revolt if neccessary, and as a 2 of it should be enough to beat tron. Also you don't need to blow it up immediatly, you can wait shortly before, or when they assemble tron.
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"Master they threatened to darken the sky with their arrows!"
"Well, then we will at least fight in the shadow"
"There is no glory to be gained in the kingdom of the dead!"
Post by Narah about unbanning Mind Twist in legacy and that this would be evil:
Yeah, but it's really more "Disney Evil" than practical. It's like being a bond villain and giving a monologue rather then just shooting them.
If you want to play on MTGO add me I'm HeskatetAS, playing Modern and Legacy
There is absolutely no way to run colorless lands in the deck. The first two to three turns are crucial for the deck and if you stumble on mana it's game over.
I'd rather use Beast Within than GQ against Tron, catching them out of basics to fetch doesn't happen that often.
And if Beast Within is too much for this deck at 3-mana there is also Boom // Bust at 2-mana which can be one-sided if you target your own fetchland and sac' it in response.
Another option to turn off Tron can be Spreading Seas.
Well,if you're upping the land count, I think we might as well cut the 2x Chart a Course/Atarka's Command and find another creature to jam in there. The 4th Avatar is definetly seviceable. As far as the 8x Pongify effects, they do a lot more than just combo-wombo with Undying. With a bit of setup, they're essentially "Counter target removal spell" or Terminate or 3/3 Flash, all for the price of U. The card is just so versatile - I suggest you play with the 8x setup a few more leagues.
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Hello all – in case you don’t know me (and why should you), my name is Hans Christian Ljungqvist – Beast_with_2_backs on Magic Online, and I previously popularized the budget Mono-Green Stompy deck piloting it to a top 8 at the 2014 Bazaar of Moxen tournament. If you are familiar with that deck you will probably notice some similarities in the creature package of my newest creation.
I’ve recently had a lot of success with a R/U/G version of the traditional budget U/G Evolve deck – managing a couple of competitive League 5-0’s. I wanted to share this deck with you all since WotC recently published a decklist of mine and the deck gained some traction from being featured in both the GAM Podcast episode 56, a TCGPlayer article by Seth Manfield, an SCG Daily Digest by Ross Merriam and finally an MTGGoldfish Instant Deck Tech.
The deck was originally called Harambe due to the abundance of great apes in the maindeck with Pongify, Kird Ape and Hooting Mandrils. Over time however both Kird Ape and Hooting Mandrils gave way to better cards in the form of Narnam Renegade and Avatar of the Resolute, so the name that seems to stick now is Blue Zoo.
However – I need your help in evolving the deck (pun intended) as right now the deck is still in its infancy as is evident by the somewhat rough numbers in the maindeck and the sideboard.
3 reasons why you should play Blue Zoo:
It’s fast! It’s cheap! And it’s a LOT of fun to play – blowing your opponent out with a random collection of draft unplayables appeals to a certain kind of people (not the Lantern kind of people – those are bad people). If you are one of those people – keep reading!
The difference between my list and the more general budget Evolve lists is that I am not trying to build an all-in Evolve deck. This is not the second coming of Hardened Scales or Winding Constrictor. Rather it is my attempt at building a tempo/aggro deck in Modern and in my opinion the Evolve/Undying creatures serve that role better than Delver of Secrets. Given that there are no free permission spells like Daze or Force of Will in Modern, playing protect the queen is often a losing proposition, and even a dedicated deck like Grixis Shadow has trouble protecting it’s threats. Blue Zoo however has a multitude of threats and Pongify/Hybridization serve as pseudo-threats.
Decklist
4 Cloudfin Raptor
4 Experiment One
4 Young Wolf
4 Narnam Renegade
4 Strangleroot Geist
3 Avatar of the Resolute
1 Dryad Arbor
Spells- 18
4 Pongify
4 Rapid Hybridization
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Spell Pierce
2 Vapor Snag
2 Chart a Course
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Botanical Sanctum
2 Breeding Pool
2 Stomping Ground
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Forest
3 Ceremonious Rejection
3 Ancient Grudge
3 Life Goes On
2 Unified Will
2 Dispel
2 Magma Spray
Card Choices
Experiment One
Young Wolf
Cloudfin Raptor
Strangleroot Geist
Pongify
Rapid Hybridization
These cards all serve as the core Evolve package and I strongly suggest you start off with 4 of each when building the deck. While 8 Pongify effects seem like a lot, experience tells me that you usually won't be sad to draw one off the top.
Narnam Renegade
Avatar of the Resolute
These two cards serve as the filler-threats of the deck while still synergizing with the main theme of +1/+1 counters. Narnam Renegade is by itself a decent threat and in my opinion the only viable 4th 1-drop available to the deck. Also with the conspicuous absence of Kird Ape, Narnam Renegade has to play the role of honorary ape. In this deck, Avatar of the Resolute is a powerhouse for only 2 green mana and will frequently enter the battlefield as a 5/4 or bigger, easily trumping what other fair decks have access to for 2 mana. The Avatar's synergy with the rest of the deck is one of the main reasons to not play Tarmogoyf in the 2-drop slot. The Trample is also quite relevant as Pongify effects allow for instant speed removal of blockers on the Avatar.
Spell Pierce
Vapor Snag
Lightning Bolt
These cards serve as your relevant game 1 interaction and are chosen for their flexibility - the sideboard includes more specific answers for different matchups. Vapor Snag, while seemingly a bit underpowered, works well in the situations where you have to smash an opposing creature – bouncing the token allows for a free attack. While spending 2 cards to remove 1 card is not optimal, being a tempo deck with a very fast clock, we can sometimes allow ourselves a 2-for-1 and still maintain a superior board presence. Lightning Bolt serves the dual role of killing roadblocks and allowing the deck to have a bit of reach to close games out.
Chart a Course
This recent addition from Ixalan serves as the most mana-efficient refueling card available in the R/U/G colors. While traditional cantrips aren’t effective enough in this type of deck, Chart a Course’s rate of 2 cards for 2 mana is a very good rate for a tempo deck.
The manabase is currently built to support 3 things:
First of, every single mana source provides green mana. This is a necessity, as 12 of our 1-drops cost green mana. Only 4 of the lands do not produce blue mana, which means that we will almost always have access to Cloudfin Raptor turn 1 if we want it.
Secondly, the deck has 10 fetches – currently tied with Burn for the second highest number of fetches in a Modern deck (Death’s Shadow decks tops that list with 12!). This allows us the luxury of only playing 2 Stomping Ground and means we usually always have a way of triggering Revolt on Narnam Renegade.
The third point is the Dryad Arbor. While traditionally Dryad Arbor serves as Liliana of the Veil protection for creature combo decks like Infect and Bogles, the Dryad Arbor in Blue Zoo serves as a low-cost way to get the engine rolling. It serves as free fodder for Pongify/Hybridization and is able to trigger Cloudfin Raptor on it’s own. While the deck only plays 18 lands, the lack of card selection means that you will occasionally flood out a bit. Having access to an extra attacker or a surprise blocker is very valuable.
As for the sideboard cards, the deck is generally quite flexible, so you have a lot of options to choose from. While many of the cards that I have included are meant for fairly good matchups, my approach to sideboarding is often to make decent/even matchups even better postboard rather than try to fix some of the abysmal matchups (Bogles for instance is virtually unwinnable). The only card I would strongly advise against tinkering with is Ancient Grudge, as it is the pillar of postboard strategies against the artifact based tier 1 decks. Some of you may notice that I include no graveyard hate in the sideboard. This is mostly since the relevant cards either hurt us too much (Grafdigger’s Cage) or just don’t do enough in Modern (Surgical Extraction). Apart from that, the Graveyard based decks are usually fine matchups – Dredge for instance is easily on of the best matchups, since it turns out that dead creatures block very poorly.
The case against 3-drops:
I’m going to spend a few lines explaining why the deck doesn’t play any 3-drops despite a prevalence of powerful cards available in the R/U/G colors. The most obvious choices would probably be Kitchen Finks and Nissa, Voice of Zendikar in the sideboard for the grindier matchups and honorary 3-drops like Snapcaster Mage and Hooting Mandrills in the maindeck.
The reasons for not playing the more mana-intensive cards are two-fold. First of all, my core philosophy for the deck is that it should be able to operate off of 2 lands, similar to the Burn deck’s ability to function on only 2 lands. Having only 18 lands with no filtering means that you will often have games where you never see the third land or choose to prioritize a Dryad Arbor over a third shock. Second of all, the deck is a tempo deck that usually shouldn't tap out past turn 2 or 3 but rather keep up interaction for whatever the opponent is doing.
Tapping out for a 3-drop is very dangerous in Modern, as a lot of decks will be able to punish you for it by either winning on the spot or by deploying their more impactful cards. That being said, both Nissa, Voice of Zendikar and Kitchen Finks are very decent choices for the sideboard, I just firmly believe that cheaper, more targeted cards, can serve the same role.
Guide to Playing the Deck
First off – as anyone who has played with the Undying/Evolve creatures are aware, the combination of an Evolve creature + Pongify effect + Young Wolf = 8 power on the board on turn 2. That is one of the main draws to playing the deck – a lot of decks simply can’t keep up with that kind of opener. If you are unfamiliar with the math, the way it works is that you stack the triggers in such a way that the Evolve trigger from the token produced by the Pongify effect goes on the stack first and then the evolve trigger from your undying creature returning to the battlefield goes on top allowing both Evolve triggers to resolve as Evolve checks on resolution.
The approach to playing the deck is “get ahead – stay ahead”. This approach requires you to be able to get on the board early and interact at relevant levels with your opponent at a mana discount. The playstyle resembles a mix between Zoo and Legacy R/U/G Delver. While it is possible to play Blue Zoo purely like an aggro deck, I strongly discourage you from doing so – instead try to establish a dominant board presence and force your opponent to respond to it rather than just piling on. Knowing when to smash your own creatures with a Pongify effect and when to smash the opponent’s creatures is the most complex part of playing the deck.
Matchups
Affinity:
This one can be a bit rough – Affinity has a fast clock and a number of hard-to-deal-with threats. The games are very play/draw dependent, but the key to winning is to continuously apply pressure while trying to deal with their haymakers. Prioritize getting Steel Overseer off the table, as he can really ruin your day. Arcbound Ravager is not the end of the world, as keeping one mana open means your opponent has to respect your ability to interact with a Ravager target. This matchup drastically improves postboard.
Grixis Shadow:
Quite positive matchup – we are very fast, even for Modern standards. The Grixis player will have a very hard time punching through, as Blue Zoo blocks exceptionally well due to the Undying creatures and Narnam Renegade. Don’t be afraid to smash a Shadow that has grown too large. Do make sure to finish the game quickly however, as their superior card quality will take over once they get rid of all the air in the deck.
Eldrazi Tron:
One of the hardest matchups for Blue Zoo – the early game revolves around you being able to handle a Chalice of the Void for one. This is almost impossible to do game 1 and is one of the main reasons for including Ancient Grudge in the board. Apart from that, the deck is able to stall the ground quite effectively with big bodies and annoying card like Matter Reshaper.
Jeskai Control:
Very positive matchup – they rely on single target removal, which Pongify effects severely punish. The only card you need to worry about is Anger of the Gods. Otherwise it’s smooth sailing.
Storm:
Quite positive matchup – the combination of a fast clock and relevant disruption is just what the doctor ordered against the pure combo mages. Prioritize keeping removal up rather than counterspells.
Humans:
Even to negative matchup – we are faster, but they have a number of incredibly annoying cards like the two Thalias. Don’t get caught off guard by a Reflector Mage – keep a Pongify effect up if you can!
Burn:
Positive matchup – we goldfish as fast as burn and are quickly able to outmatch their groundbeaters. The only drawback is our manabase, which means you have to fetch carefully in order to not hurt yourself too much. Postboard a resolved Life Goes On means game over for Burn.
G/X Tron:
Even to positive matchup – Tron games feel quite lopsided. We either win very fast leaving them with no relevant way to interact or they manage to land a haymaker in time to stem the bleeding. Wurmcoil, Ugin and Oblivion Stone are the real issues here, whereas Karn and Ulamog are usually manageable. Counterspells work wonders postboard.
Titanshift:
Negative to even matchup – Our interaction lines up poorly against Titanshift meaning we are forced to race and overextend. The presence of Anger of the Gods makes life hard for our motley crew. Try to keep a hand that goldfishes turn 4.
Counters Company:
Even matchup – our interaction is very relevant, but the deck wouldn’t be a contender if it wasn’t able to grind through a few lightning bolts. Kitchen Finks is also a very annoying card. That being said, the deck has a lot of air and Blue Zoo will punch through eventually, given enough time.
U/W Control:
Positive matchup – they are by far the slowest of the controlling decks and their interaction is quite expensive like Detention Sphere and Supreme Verdict. Don’t overextend into a Supreme Verdict unless you’re doing it with Undying creatures, but make sure to still keep enough power on the board to be able to pressure their planeswalkers.
Lantern Control:
Negative matchup – our inability to remove Ensnaring Bridge game 1 means the preboarded games are very lopsided. Postboard we have a lot of interaction but will often have to win two sideboarded games.
B/G/X midrange:
Negative to even matchup – Jund and Abzan have a number of annoying cards. While Liliana of the Veil does very little against Blue Zoo (and may even be a liability), Tarmogoyf and Scavenging Ooze present real problems. The Scavenging Ooze needs to die on sight as it invalidates a large part of our gameplan. As for the Goyf, the stage of the game decides how the old Lhurgoyf should be handled. Experience tells me that it is usually correct to smash him and move on, taking the 2-for-1 in stride.
Alternate Card Choices
Atarka's Command
Atarka's Command is a very powerful card in traditional Zoo decks and often serves as a powerful finisher or as a way to cheat the combat math. I have alternated between 0 and 2 copies in the maindeck, but with the recent addition of Chart a Course, I have found that I prefer leaning towards being able to grind better rather than building a glass-cannony approach.
Dismember
Dismember is a very powerful card against certain decks and has been in and out of the deck over the past year. If your meta includes a lot of B/G/X and Eldrazi Tron it is probably correct to include some number of Dismembers in the maindeck to deal with their threats.
Grim Lavamancer
Grim Lavamancer is a highly efficient card with plenty of fodder in Blue Zoo. The biggest drawback is the amount of stress he puts on the manabase, requiring red mana every turn and occasionally forcing awkward fetches.
Remand
Remand is the traditional counterspell of choice for tempo decks. My biggest concern however is the 2 mana cost, which locks you into keeping mana up while also being awful when you're behind.
Mana Leak
Mana Leak suffers from some of the same problems as Remand. Keeping 2 mana up is a tall order for Blue Zoo and will lock you into a losing play pattern if you're forced to keep it up as early as turn 2.
Scavenging Ooze
Scavenging Ooze is super effective and could arguably be the best type of graveyard interaction for the deck. Old Scoozy is however very mana intensive and with no way of protecting him, he will rarely get to live long enough to take over the game.
Forked Bolt
Forked Bolt is another very effective card in the right meta. I currently don't feel the need for the split effect as there are very few creatures with 1 toughness in the meta apart from Noble Hierarch and Birds of Paradise.
Spell Snare
Spell Snare is one of the most effective 1 mana counterspells in Modern, but it's value tends to fluctuate with the meta. At the moment Spell Snare is only really good against Affinity and Storm and a virtually dead card against a deck like Eldrazi Tron.
Hooting Mandrils
Hooting Mandrils was originally one of the core creatures in the deck, but was cut due to the lack of synergy with the +1/+1 counter theme and the occasional games where you're not putting enough cards in your graveyard or you are met with graveyard hate. While the powerlevel of the Mandrils is on par with what the deck is capable of, the situations where I couldn't play the apes made me cut it.
Rancor
Rancor is another powerful card that serves as a repeatable source of damage while also providing some much-loved Trample. The card has been in and out of the deck but was eventually cut completely due to the danger of getting blown out by a removal spell on the Rancor target.
Bioshift
Never go full retard! The same goes for Hunger of the Howlpack, Master Biomancer and other cards in that category. You're basically turning a competitive deck into a kitchen table deck...
Your build seems to be missing the Dryad Arbor, which is crucial in getting the train rolling. Also Young Wolf is the best card in the deck - if you want to shave, shave a Renegade instead.
My experience tells me that the red splash is very necessary - you're not beating Storm or G/W Company without Bolt for instance, and the Bolts often speed up your clock or take out pesky cards like Scavenging Ooze. Post sideboard, you're not beating Lantern or Affinity without Bolt and Ancient Grudge.
If I wanted to play without red, I would add the 4th Avatar, add a Vapor Snag and probably play two more counterspells of some sort.
Winding Constrictor doesn't do what you want it to do in this deck. The Evolve creatures would still only end up with 2 counters from a Pongify on an Undying creature, as Evolve checks on resolution. Also, the black Undying creatures suck except for Geralf's, which is uncastable in a 3-color deck.
If you want to stay Simic, I suggest you replace the Bolts with 3 Dismember and the 4th Avatar and add a forest and a Sanctum to my manabase to replace the Stomping Grounds.
Seems much better than a narrow card like Magma Spray which isnt a great removal spell anyway and go to the face
(like Pillar of Flame/Forked Bolt).
I'd also go with Negate over Unified Will for a less conditional counterspell.
I'd play Mana Leak before resorting to Unified Will.
Playing only one forest as a basic land is rather greedy as well, I'd at least add an island.
Besides the Blood Moon issue PtE and Ghost Quarter/Field of Ruin become extremely good against this deck with the current setup.
Magma Spray is far from perfect, and is probably not good enough atm to see play. Dismember instead is a viable option. Alternately you could jam something like Flame Slash? I'm close to cutting the Chart a Courses from the MD and replacing them with 2x Atarka's Command, as speed seems to be the way to go atm.
Unified Will specifically serves as a counter against the heavier decks like Titanshift, Ad Nauseam and different Tron versions - being able to tag any spell is more important than the conditionality. If you don't have more creatures on the board than your opponent, you're probably losing anyway...
The manabase is extremely greedy and Blood Moon is a serious issue (just not serious enough that I actually want to dedicate cards to it). Most GQ/FoR decks however are very slow, meaning we can usually race them regardless of them popping a land. The U/G version of the deck doesn't have this issue though, but suffers from other issues :-(
It is pretty effective at closing out games where the opponent has stabilized/clogged the board to deal a big chunk of damage out of nowhere to "steal" the game.
I'd cut the Narnam Renegades and Chart a Course for this as those seem like the weakest cards in the deck.
Also, what do you think about Swan Song for this deck over Dispel in the SB ?
It catches more spells and is on theme as another "Pongify"-like effect.
Here is how I'd tweak the deck to add the "double strike combo":
4 Cloudfin Raptor
4 Experiment One
4 Young Wolf
4 Strangleroot Geist
3 Avatar of the Resolute
1 Dryad Arbor
Spells- 22
4 Pongify
4 Rapid Hybridization
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Blossoming Defense
2 Vapor Snag
3 Temur Battle Rage
3 Become Immense
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Botanical Sanctum
2 Breeding Pool
2 Stomping Ground
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Forest
1 Island
3 Ceremonious Rejection
3 Ancient Grudge
3 Life Goes On
2 Negate
2 Swan Song
2 Tormod's Crypt
Chart a Course is probably not what the deck wants - thinking of going back to Atarka's.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
I mean, I can see the argument for it not being good, it's always the case with Anthem effects that you're playing an enchantment instead of just adding another creature to the board and in this case you end up needing the anthem out first so it's delaying your board development and maybe that means it's not worth the slot, but I think the effect is more powerful than you're giving it credit for.
Awesome deck you've built and/or tuned! As RUG is my favourite colour combination in addition to Jund, I just had to build the deck on MODO after watching Sam Pardee's video on CFB. That's how I found this thread as well so it's good that you posted the link in the comments.
My sample size is really small, but here's few things that I've noticed nevertheless:
- Land count feels too low, at least I've had to mulligan way too many one landers in the short time that I've played with the deck. The deck functions really well with just two lands, but it wants those two lands badly. 4th Botanical Sanctum is what I ended adding quickly.
- Chart the Course felt a bit underwhelming (even though I want to 'find a home for it') so it's the first card that I would also change.
- I'm not sure if I feel that 8 enablers (undying creatures) and 8 payoffs (Pongify) is the right amount. I do understand that Dryad Arbor also enables the Pongifies, but still they're only really good with the undying creatures.
Few cards that I want to try:
- Greenbelt Rampager, definitely a one-off, but it has nice synergy with evolve creatures as well as enabling revolt.
- Smuggler's Copter, I'd say maximum two of these, but evasion feels really valuable as well as looting (to exchange excess lands for gas) for the deck. It doesn't make the kill faster the same way as Atarka's Command, but I feel that it might be a good fit for the deck. Also nice synergy with Greenbelt Rampager (crew in response to energy trigger) and Dryad Arbor.
I'm currently testing a version with the following differences:
-2 Chart the Course
-1 Rapid Hybridization
+1 Botanical Sanctum
+1 Smuggler's Copter
+1 Greenbelt Rampager
I'll post findings and musings after playing with the deck much more.
Regards,
Roope
Summary of changes from original list:
-2 chart the course
-2 Spell pierce
-1 rapid hybridization
+1 botanical sanctum
+2 smugglers copter
+1 greenbelt rampager
+1 vapor snag
Br,
Roope
Reckless Rage from Rivals of Ixalan might be one more potential SB card for the deck. Or it might be horrible and trying too hard..
Isn't it worth the spot? I mean it fights tron well and also trigger's revolt. you could also in a bad scenario destroy the own land to trigger revolt if neccessary, and as a 2 of it should be enough to beat tron. Also you don't need to blow it up immediatly, you can wait shortly before, or when they assemble tron.
"Well, then we will at least fight in the shadow"
"There is no glory to be gained in the kingdom of the dead!"
Post by Narah about unbanning Mind Twist in legacy and that this would be evil:
If you want to play on MTGO add me I'm HeskatetAS, playing Modern and Legacy
And if Beast Within is too much for this deck at 3-mana there is also Boom // Bust at 2-mana which can be one-sided if you target your own fetchland and sac' it in response.
Another option to turn off Tron can be Spreading Seas.