The goal is to slow down the early game with annoying creatures that either make the opponent discard or have deathtouch, getting as many of them in the graveyard as possible as quickly as possible, then drop a bomb in the form of an enormous boneyard wurm or splinterfright, or a 1-3cc ghoultree.
Mulch is mostly to get creatures in the grave, but also helps ensure land drops. Grisly salvage both gets more creatures in the grave and probably nets you one of your bombs.
I know there's a couple rares, but seriously, you could build this deck for $15. Betters duals/shocks would be obvious non-budget improvements.
I think this deck has real potential... not at a high level, but definitely at a budget/casual level. Some modest playtesting has yielded surprising results... like a 2-cost ghoultree turn 4 and a 10/10 boneyard wurm turn 5. Grisly salvage goes a long way toward fighting through removal.
If nothing else, people would have no idea what was coming game 1. After that you'd probably get crushed by graveyard hate.
The worst card is easily drainpipe vermin, but I haven't been able to find a synergistic substitute... maybe the deck just needs a few ultimate price instead. Thoughts are welcome.
I play zoo in legacy, not modern, but here's my take:
- kird ape or loam lion over steppe lynx any day. Yeah, sometimes you can get a super-aggro start, but other times it just gets chumped. After turn 3, it's worthless.
- GOST over mana leak. Zoo should never have mana open for counters, and GOST fits the aggressive game plan.
- strangleroot geist over kitchen finks. Haste is awesome, and it gives you a 2-drop for those times when you don't have the heirarch for second turn 3-drop. Finks might be very appropriate in the sideboard. The obvious better 2-drop would be goyf, but I can understand if you don't have it (I don't either).
- Bloodbraid elf is one of those things that seems awesome but never seems to work out that way. For 4 mana in zoo I want something AMAZING. I'd rather be drawing knight of the reliquary, geist of st. taft, or even a woolly thoctar (I actually run woolly in place of goyf and for $0.50 each vs. $100 it works pretty well!)
- I run rancor, and it's been awesome for me. Allows for very aggressive starts, makes my 1-drops relevant in the mid/late game, and prevents chump blockers from ruining your day.
- Don't see the point of dryad arbor in modern. Without green sun's zenith it can't act as mana ramp, so most of the time it just means you're risking being behind a turn when someone bolts your land. I'd run a 1-drop in it's place (you don't need the 26 lands you're running). Either kird ape/loam lion or grim lavamancer.
Obviously there's lots of choices... pridemage, lavamancer, loam lion, a different 2-drop (occasionally the GG mana cost is a problem, although usually because of wasteland, which you don't have to deal with).
If you want to try something different and synergistic, you could go for 4x nether traitor. With 2 out, it basically does the same thing as gravecrawler + another zombie. Also, it is evasive and can ping your opponent for 1 damage/turn when the board is stalled. Not super strong but it can be a fun alternative.
Hadn't seen nether traitor before. I think that has good potential. I like that it would let me trade a lingering souls token for any 2-toughness creature using goblin bombardment (even a 3-toughness creature in a pinch), and is a little easier to return than bloodghast.
Downside of course is it's not a zombie and it adds to the "can't block" theme, but it might be worth it.
Yeah, I've been working a more traditional build, and it's basically exactly those cards. It's fun when it works, but I've found it to be non-synergistic. Plus I like building something a little different from what everyone else is doing.
The discard suite often means you're not playing any dudes until turn 2-3, and by then you're behind despite the hymn. For that reason I decided to forego discard entirely. You're right that it's the only defense against combo, and that's part of why I know this won't be tier 1 (not that zombies is anyway).
I could see taking smallpox out and putting messenger back in. No doubt he's a better zombie than diregraf or dregscape... I chose those two for speed and because I had to have enough zombies to support the gravecrawler.
I've found gloom surgeon to be very useful, problem is he's not a zombie. Messenger and 2 ghouls left over means total count of 9 to support gravecrawler... should be enough.
Alright, everyone knows and loves gravecrawler/blood artist/carrion feeder. But then I discovered mortician beetle and started thinking about how to abuse self-sacrificed creatures even more. Here's my first take at a list:
lots of sac outlets to let you take advantage of blood artist and mortician beetle. Smallpox and geth's verdict for removal because even when the opponent makes a sacrifice it grows the beetles. Goblin bombardment as a finisher or as additional removal, and lingering souls to provide attackers with evasion, fuel for feeders/bombardment/smallpox, or chump blockers, depending on the situation. I kept the mana curve very low because of smallpox, hence no geralf's messenger.
As much as I like it, smallpox is my biggest question mark, since even with the low mana curve, this deck will almost always have a use for a few spare mana, but I'm not sure what I could put in it's place that would be as disruptive and synergistic.
This is obviously a first take and is by no means refined, but I think it has potential. probably not tier 1 potential, but enough to be competitive in all but the most ruthless playgroups, and fun to play besides. And fairly inexpensive for legacy... the budget-minded could replace the duals with shocks also. I haven't really given thought to a sideboard yet. Probably some disenchant, red elemental blast, possibly swords to plowshares, some discard against combo, and the usual graveyard hate.
2 drainpipe vermin
4 ambush viper
4 black cat
4 ravenous rats
4 boneyard wurm
4 splinterfright
4 ghoultree
4 mulch
4 grisly salvage
9 swamp
9 forest
4 golgari guildgate
The goal is to slow down the early game with annoying creatures that either make the opponent discard or have deathtouch, getting as many of them in the graveyard as possible as quickly as possible, then drop a bomb in the form of an enormous boneyard wurm or splinterfright, or a 1-3cc ghoultree.
Mulch is mostly to get creatures in the grave, but also helps ensure land drops. Grisly salvage both gets more creatures in the grave and probably nets you one of your bombs.
I know there's a couple rares, but seriously, you could build this deck for $15. Betters duals/shocks would be obvious non-budget improvements.
I think this deck has real potential... not at a high level, but definitely at a budget/casual level. Some modest playtesting has yielded surprising results... like a 2-cost ghoultree turn 4 and a 10/10 boneyard wurm turn 5. Grisly salvage goes a long way toward fighting through removal.
If nothing else, people would have no idea what was coming game 1. After that you'd probably get crushed by graveyard hate.
The worst card is easily drainpipe vermin, but I haven't been able to find a synergistic substitute... maybe the deck just needs a few ultimate price instead. Thoughts are welcome.
- kird ape or loam lion over steppe lynx any day. Yeah, sometimes you can get a super-aggro start, but other times it just gets chumped. After turn 3, it's worthless.
- GOST over mana leak. Zoo should never have mana open for counters, and GOST fits the aggressive game plan.
- strangleroot geist over kitchen finks. Haste is awesome, and it gives you a 2-drop for those times when you don't have the heirarch for second turn 3-drop. Finks might be very appropriate in the sideboard. The obvious better 2-drop would be goyf, but I can understand if you don't have it (I don't either).
- Bloodbraid elf is one of those things that seems awesome but never seems to work out that way. For 4 mana in zoo I want something AMAZING. I'd rather be drawing knight of the reliquary, geist of st. taft, or even a woolly thoctar (I actually run woolly in place of goyf and for $0.50 each vs. $100 it works pretty well!)
- I run rancor, and it's been awesome for me. Allows for very aggressive starts, makes my 1-drops relevant in the mid/late game, and prevents chump blockers from ruining your day.
- Don't see the point of dryad arbor in modern. Without green sun's zenith it can't act as mana ramp, so most of the time it just means you're risking being behind a turn when someone bolts your land. I'd run a 1-drop in it's place (you don't need the 26 lands you're running). Either kird ape/loam lion or grim lavamancer.
something like:
4 noble hierarch
4 kird ape
2 grim lavamancer
4 strangleroot geist
4 knight of the reliquary
4 geist of st. taft
4 path to exile
4 lightning bolt
4 lightning helix
4 rancor
22 lands
Obviously there's lots of choices... pridemage, lavamancer, loam lion, a different 2-drop (occasionally the GG mana cost is a problem, although usually because of wasteland, which you don't have to deal with).
Hadn't seen nether traitor before. I think that has good potential. I like that it would let me trade a lingering souls token for any 2-toughness creature using goblin bombardment (even a 3-toughness creature in a pinch), and is a little easier to return than bloodghast.
Downside of course is it's not a zombie and it adds to the "can't block" theme, but it might be worth it.
Thanks for that one!
The discard suite often means you're not playing any dudes until turn 2-3, and by then you're behind despite the hymn. For that reason I decided to forego discard entirely. You're right that it's the only defense against combo, and that's part of why I know this won't be tier 1 (not that zombies is anyway).
I could see taking smallpox out and putting messenger back in. No doubt he's a better zombie than diregraf or dregscape... I chose those two for speed and because I had to have enough zombies to support the gravecrawler.
Maybe:
-4 smallpox
-3 dregscape zombie
-1 diregraf ghoul
+3 geralf's messenger
+3 gloom surgeon
+2 geth's verdict
I've found gloom surgeon to be very useful, problem is he's not a zombie. Messenger and 2 ghouls left over means total count of 9 to support gravecrawler... should be enough.
Creatures:
4 gravecrawler
4 carrion feeder
4 mortician beetle
4 bloodghast
4 blood artist
3 diregraf ghoul
3 dregscape zombie
Spells:
4 lingering souls
4 smallpox
2 geth's verdict
2 killing wave
Enchantments:
3 goblin bombardment
Land:
7 swamp
4 marsh flats
4 verdant catacombs
2 badlands
2 scrubland
1 undiscovered paradise
lots of sac outlets to let you take advantage of blood artist and mortician beetle. Smallpox and geth's verdict for removal because even when the opponent makes a sacrifice it grows the beetles. Goblin bombardment as a finisher or as additional removal, and lingering souls to provide attackers with evasion, fuel for feeders/bombardment/smallpox, or chump blockers, depending on the situation. I kept the mana curve very low because of smallpox, hence no geralf's messenger.
As much as I like it, smallpox is my biggest question mark, since even with the low mana curve, this deck will almost always have a use for a few spare mana, but I'm not sure what I could put in it's place that would be as disruptive and synergistic.
This is obviously a first take and is by no means refined, but I think it has potential. probably not tier 1 potential, but enough to be competitive in all but the most ruthless playgroups, and fun to play besides. And fairly inexpensive for legacy... the budget-minded could replace the duals with shocks also. I haven't really given thought to a sideboard yet. Probably some disenchant, red elemental blast, possibly swords to plowshares, some discard against combo, and the usual graveyard hate.
I welcome your thoughts!