It's going to free up about 3-4 board slots for me so I honestly have no clue what else I'll jam in the board. I've been thinking about this too but have not reached a conclusion. Current board is:
pretty sure there are 1 or 2 guys who were pretty enthusiastic about bushwhacker/blitz variants. Unfortunately (or fortunately imo), Zoo is a niche archetype that gets very little attention and discussion and bushwhacker variants have proven to be less effective, therefore gets even less attention.
Guys please opinions on japanese cards. Lost a 3/3 creature against Japan celestial colonade. This guy played all creatures and spells in english cards, but some cards in his manabase was japanese. I dont registrated this really ( my brain say its all fine and all english to me lets attack his empty board)...and i am sure it is a Kind of legal cheating. It is not ok, but i know legal. I Hate such people. I never forget colonade normally, but with this Tricks it can happen one time in 3 years and such people take advantage of this
If I am a customer spending premium amount of dollars, I expect a premium service. Jund falls into the category of a premium deck costing more dollars than a majority of the rest of the format. I'm not getting the desired performance ratio per dollars spent out of the Jund deck because WOTC decided to make the format more diverse.
I've been searching around and this seems to be the thread for any Zoo variant, am I mistaken?
Anyways, let's see if I can get the Bushwhacker Zoo players to show up and share their updated lists!
I appreciate Zoo lists in any shapes and sizes! Good job and wish you continued success! I personally am not a fan of small zoo at the moment so I'll defer to people who are currently running them.
Karn was decent when I played him. I played him against BW Eldrazi Bears and he was just terrible, they kept processeing the cards I exiled with Karn and then kept blinking the tokens I would make. I played Karn against my ponza opponent but I already had the win, so there wasn't any relevent things I learned from him last night other than I want my planeswalker to be able to kill something, so I may go back to running a Domri Rade again.
I've been searching around and this seems to be the thread for any Zoo variant, am I mistaken?
Anyways, let's see if I can get the Bushwhacker Zoo players to show up and share their updated lists!
I've had some FNM succes with my Bushwhacker list in the past and have a fully foiled deck ready to go when I need it to. Great to see someone having a blast with it, It has a special place in my collection as it's my first competitive deck after rediscovering the game after 15 some odd years. Though my current prefered zoo list is a more resilient Big Zoo midange list with BBE, Ralliers and Voices.
I havent really adapted to a current meta of sorts, but this is what I run.
I have been wondering about the dampening sphere vs blood moon sideboard slot. I get that dampening sphere helps in two ways, taxing spells on turn two and fights Tron lands and Eldrazi temple a turn before "natural" tron is assembled. My main issue is that blood moon can fight valakut and mana greedy decks where sphere can't, increasing the value of moon in the sideboard. On the other side taxing storm and control decks is nice but it doesn't apply any pressure. Running Thalia or Teeg are just better options I think against storm and control decks. Keeping the pressure on and slowing down their hand is the best path to victory for zoo decks. I know it can be meta dependent but just running blind into a meta I feel like running moon, Thalia or Teeg are a better choice. Trying to get a read from other zoo players on sphere's role in the sideboard and what people have noticed?
I have been wondering about the dampening sphere vs blood moon sideboard slot. I get that dampening sphere helps in two ways, taxing spells on turn two and fights Tron lands and Eldrazi temple a turn before "natural" tron is assembled. My main issue is that blood moon can fight valakut and mana greedy decks where sphere can't, increasing the value of moon in the sideboard. On the other side taxing storm and control decks is nice but it doesn't apply any pressure. Running Thalia or Teeg are just better options I think against storm and control decks. Keeping the pressure on and slowing down their hand is the best path to victory for zoo decks. I know it can be meta dependent but just running blind into a meta I feel like running moon, Thalia or Teeg are a better choice. Trying to get a read from other zoo players on sphere's role in the sideboard and what people have noticed?
If you have a ton of Valakut in your meta than Moon is definitely the way to go. Otherwise I would say sphere trumps thalia and moon, but not Teeg, only because Teeg stops wrath effects as well. Being able to turn two a hate effect against Tron on the play is huuuuge, and you can only do that with Moon if you had a turn 1 dork.
And Scapeshift is really really good against a deck like zoo.
Damping Sphere really only turns off 6 mana Pact for Titan turns.
This was pretty much the only reason to play Blood Moon and why many of us played 3 copies. Sure, it's good against Tron and occasionally you'll cheese midrange decks (I rarely brought it in) but ,really, you need to turn off Valakuts.
Personally, I find people are still playing Ponza, keeping Tron in shop locally -- so I have less work to do.
With Damping Sphere, I really don't see the reason to go back to Blood Moon. The thing is that Blood Moon in Naya Zoo is not as free as in many other decks. We also get heavily taxed by it, therefore it is only good when it shuts down our opponents game 100%.
I agree completely with this idea, but Lugger comment about scapeshift is very true. I feel without blood moon the matchup requires us to curve out perfectly and for them to stumble. If people have another plan that doesn't involve blood moon I am game.
Good mention on the Aven Mindcensor can be flashed in to dodge anger and other removal while not sacrificing our mana base. Also seems a like a better card against a lot more matchups. I only get out to play modern once a month pretty much so I'm in the same boat DiscardThisCard, I've only played the matchup a couple of times. But building a sideboard for a blind meta it seems like going 2-3 spheres with 2-3 Mindcensors seems like a good call.
Gotta do a shout out to @Zulander for sharing his list with me for a modern event this week, I ended up going 4-0 beating esper control 2-0, burn 2-0, hallow one 2-0, and finally a strange combo deck involving fevered visions, forced card draw, exhaustion and other dumb izzet cards 2-1. I ran this mix:
22 lands- 10 fetches, 6 shocks (SGr, TGar, SFoun), 2 forest, plains, kessig, ghost quarter, horizon canopy...felt like a great mix.
15 One drops: 4 bolt 4 Nacatl 4 Nobles 3 path
12 two drops: 4 goyf 2 voice 1 pridemage 2 ooze 2 helix 1 dromoka's command
7 three drops: 4 KoR 1 tracker 2 smiter
4 four drops: 4 bloodbraids
SB was random really, but the cards I'd point out played the best for me- grafdiggers cage (i ran 2, it was amazing vs hollow one and good vs esper), worship- won me the game vs burn and was also amazing vs hallow one, Gaddock Teeg- AMAZING ONE SIDED HATE! I love him from legacy maverick but man is he great in this company-less deck. I think the board is a work in progress for me, ill certainly be trying damping sphere over blood moon effects and maybe a touch more burn, as the reach from the burn cards won me games.
This deck is SO much fun. I've always been a GWx guy. When I got back into magic 2-3 years ago, I gravitated towards collected company and then fell in love with Knight, playing knightfall in modern. I then played counters company when vizier was printed, then recently played some humans which is ok but i didn't enjoy it. I played some valuetown also, but I have to say, this deck might be the most fun for me. I think red gives that extra reach that bant company or GW company don't have, and the deck is just plain more fun than humans. I'm on board in modern with this deck everybody.
That said, good luck to anyone in here playing at SCG baltimore this weekend. I'll be there playing legacy...with of course my favorite deck, maverick. Keep jamming the hierarchs, bolts, knights and bloodbraids!
Played something really similar to Zulander's this past weekend at a 40 shock event.
2nd seed going into top 8. Proceeded to lose to affinity.
Congrats! I feel your pain though, sometimes that just happens.
I went 3-1 last week losing to Jeskai Control and beating Merfolk, Affinity, and Abzan midrange. I was annoyed by losing to Jeskai because it's normally a good matchup, but when they draw the good UW cards and not the bad red cards it can be problematic.
With about 6 weeks out from GP Vegas, here's the current list I'm running:
I'm testing Shalai out for the U/x control decks, and it has some fringe use against combo decks in making them go off twice. I'll let you guys know how it goes. I will be taking a month off from magic though in about a week so I'm not sure how much testing I'll actually get done.
Went 3-0-1 last night (should really be 4-0...) with my list above. I beat Ad Nauseam, Infect, and Abzan Midrange. Literally had the win against storm but my opponent wouldn't scoop to me after taking 90% of the match time and him dead on board in turns. Tilting.
That Ross Merriam list looks very oddly put together. Copter in 1 drop Zoo seems great, but I'm sure that if you're topping off with only 3 3drops then it needs to be Knight or 2 BBE. Also, needs more Ghor-Clan.
My assumption is that it frees up a lot of space for other matchups since it catches tron and storm (and, uh, amulet titan i guess).
With a bit of extra space, what decks are people looking to hit right now?
New Board:
I have 3 slots to fill. Maybe a second Grudge or Tireless Tracker? idk...
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I appreciate Zoo lists in any shapes and sizes! Good job and wish you continued success! I personally am not a fan of small zoo at the moment so I'll defer to people who are currently running them.
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2 Gaddock Teeg
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Qasali Pridemage
2 Kozilek's Return
2 Dromoka's Command
1 Stony Silence
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Grafdigger's Cage
3 Damping Sphere
Karn was decent when I played him. I played him against BW Eldrazi Bears and he was just terrible, they kept processeing the cards I exiled with Karn and then kept blinking the tokens I would make. I played Karn against my ponza opponent but I already had the win, so there wasn't any relevent things I learned from him last night other than I want my planeswalker to be able to kill something, so I may go back to running a Domri Rade again.
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Tron
UW Control
Jeskai
Jund
Abzan
Humans
Pretty much
Any midrange deck
Any fliers.dec
Any deck with wrath effects.
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I've had some FNM succes with my Bushwhacker list in the past and have a fully foiled deck ready to go when I need it to. Great to see someone having a blast with it, It has a special place in my collection as it's my first competitive deck after rediscovering the game after 15 some odd years. Though my current prefered zoo list is a more resilient Big Zoo midange list with BBE, Ralliers and Voices.
I havent really adapted to a current meta of sorts, but this is what I run.
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Windswept Heath
4 Arid Mesa
2 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garde
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Dryad Arbor
Creatures
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Goblin Guide
4 Experiment One
4 Narnam Renegade
3 Vexing Devil
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Reckless Bushwhacker
3 Ghor-Clan Rampager
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Rancor
4 Atarka's Command
2 Grafdiggers Cage
2 Forked Bolt
2 Path to Exile
2 Harsh Mentor
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Vexing Shusher
3 Destructive Revelry
Modern: WUBRG Humans - GBW Traverse - GWU Knightfall - GRW Bushwhacker Zoo -
If you have a ton of Valakut in your meta than Moon is definitely the way to go. Otherwise I would say sphere trumps thalia and moon, but not Teeg, only because Teeg stops wrath effects as well. Being able to turn two a hate effect against Tron on the play is huuuuge, and you can only do that with Moon if you had a turn 1 dork.
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And Scapeshift is really really good against a deck like zoo.
Damping Sphere really only turns off 6 mana Pact for Titan turns.
This was pretty much the only reason to play Blood Moon and why many of us played 3 copies. Sure, it's good against Tron and occasionally you'll cheese midrange decks (I rarely brought it in) but ,really, you need to turn off Valakuts.
Personally, I find people are still playing Ponza, keeping Tron in shop locally -- so I have less work to do.
I agree completely with this idea, but Lugger comment about scapeshift is very true. I feel without blood moon the matchup requires us to curve out perfectly and for them to stumble. If people have another plan that doesn't involve blood moon I am game.
For ad naus to go off with sphere in play, here's a line that they may have to take to win.
Cast Angel's Grace for one mana.
Cast Ad Naus for 6.
Cast Lightning Storm for 5 (4 of which can be with SSG depending on draws/gamestate and build -- im also not accounting for any mana rocks).
That's a lot of mana.
Depending on their Angel's Grace or "you cannot lose" variants, the amount of mana changes -- but that's an example.
22 lands- 10 fetches, 6 shocks (SGr, TGar, SFoun), 2 forest, plains, kessig, ghost quarter, horizon canopy...felt like a great mix.
15 One drops: 4 bolt 4 Nacatl 4 Nobles 3 path
12 two drops: 4 goyf 2 voice 1 pridemage 2 ooze 2 helix 1 dromoka's command
7 three drops: 4 KoR 1 tracker 2 smiter
4 four drops: 4 bloodbraids
SB was random really, but the cards I'd point out played the best for me- grafdiggers cage (i ran 2, it was amazing vs hollow one and good vs esper), worship- won me the game vs burn and was also amazing vs hallow one, Gaddock Teeg- AMAZING ONE SIDED HATE! I love him from legacy maverick but man is he great in this company-less deck. I think the board is a work in progress for me, ill certainly be trying damping sphere over blood moon effects and maybe a touch more burn, as the reach from the burn cards won me games.
This deck is SO much fun. I've always been a GWx guy. When I got back into magic 2-3 years ago, I gravitated towards collected company and then fell in love with Knight, playing knightfall in modern. I then played counters company when vizier was printed, then recently played some humans which is ok but i didn't enjoy it. I played some valuetown also, but I have to say, this deck might be the most fun for me. I think red gives that extra reach that bant company or GW company don't have, and the deck is just plain more fun than humans. I'm on board in modern with this deck everybody.
That said, good luck to anyone in here playing at SCG baltimore this weekend. I'll be there playing legacy...with of course my favorite deck, maverick. Keep jamming the hierarchs, bolts, knights and bloodbraids!
2nd seed going into top 8. Proceeded to lose to affinity.
Congrats!
Congrats! I feel your pain though, sometimes that just happens.
I went 3-1 last week losing to Jeskai Control and beating Merfolk, Affinity, and Abzan midrange. I was annoyed by losing to Jeskai because it's normally a good matchup, but when they draw the good UW cards and not the bad red cards it can be problematic.
With about 6 weeks out from GP Vegas, here's the current list I'm running:
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Voice of Resurgence
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Loxodon Smiter
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Path to Exile
2 Lightning Helix
1 Dromoka's Command
1 Domri Rade
4 Windswept Heath
2 Arid Mesa
2 Stomping Ground
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Temple Garden
2 Forest
1 Plains
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Archangel Avacyn
3 Gaddock Teeg
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
2 Kozilek's Return
2 Dromoka's Command
2 Damping Sphere
1 Stony Silence
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Grafdigger's Cage
I'm testing Shalai out for the U/x control decks, and it has some fringe use against combo decks in making them go off twice. I'll let you guys know how it goes. I will be taking a month off from magic though in about a week so I'm not sure how much testing I'll actually get done.
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Lol. 3 Cards off.
-1 Voice
-1 Domri
-1 GQ
+1 Scooze
+1 Arid Mesa
+1 Stirring Wildwood
22 lands- 10 fetches, 5-6 shocks 3-4 basics and 3 utlity lands
14 One drops: 4 bolt 4 Nacatl 4 Nobles 2 path
10 Two drops: 4 goyf 2 voice 2 ooze 2 helix
6 Three drops: 4 KoR 2 smiter
4 Bloodbraids
4 flex slots
This seems to be the general mold people build around. Basically four flex slots to make the deck your own.
That Ross Merriam list looks very oddly put together. Copter in 1 drop Zoo seems great, but I'm sure that if you're topping off with only 3 3drops then it needs to be Knight or 2 BBE. Also, needs more Ghor-Clan.
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