That being said, I do think it's reasonable to play 1-2 in the sideboard. I just wish it were better at what it does. The reality is that we just don't have a good answer to things like Titan Breach, and the fact that we may have to settle for Mindcensor means we're likely to be behind in that matchup because Mindcensor is simply not good enough.
Just coming to this deck from Bant Evolution and other related brews, but we do have access to Ghost Quarter. Paired with Surgical Extraction out of the sideboard, sometimes you can just locked Valakut decks out of the game that way. It will often be too slow, but sometimes they draw a Valakut in their opener and can't hold it; or they give you a window by fetching a mountain and one Valakut with the first Titan activation. It helps that Extraction is useful in other matchups, too, which helps conserve sideboard space.
Now, Eldritch Evolution, worth it? I can imagine saccing a dork to find a KOTR, or better, saccing a voice to get a token and search for WLL ( ) would be nice.
Your thoughts?
I don't like Evolution in Zoo, because it's card disadvantage; it just gives your opponent too many opportunities to blow you out. Let's look at the "ceiling and floor," a concept Patrick Chapin talked about in a recent podcast:
Ceiling: You Evolve your mana dork into a turn-2 Knight of the Reliquary. So what? This deck regularly plays one of its redundant 3-drop on turn 2 without saccing the mana dork in the process.
Ceiling: You Evolve your Voice into a 3-or-4 drop, leaving behind a token. This is probably the actual ceiling, as you actually get to cheat on mana a little, possibly getting your 4-drop down a bit earlier, and Voice mitigates the card disadvantage a little. Again, though, with a mana dork, big zoo decks can play their 4-drop on turn 3 anyways, without 2-for-1ing themselves.
Floor: You Evolve your mana dork into a turn-2 Knight of the Reliquary. Your opponent Paths your Knight. Or plays Liliana and now your knight doesn't have a mana dork to eat the -2 for her.
Bottom line: You want Evolution in a deck where the tutor effect is a big deal. Zoo decks tend to be very redundant, and thus don't need a tutor effect very badly; the fact that this particular tutor effect 2-for-1s you every time you cast it just seals the deal.
You really don't need to go much farther than this article; it is excellent.
Since you brought it up in your OP, one of the biggest things I took away from the article was "don't always rush to Thoughtseize on turn 1." I see lots of people always TS on turn 1 (and I used to do so automatically, too), when it's often not the best play - especially if doing so means you're going to start the game at 15. Unless waiting past turn one ruins your curve, you should actually often be *waiting* as long as possible. For instance, if your opponent's best spell is at CMC 4, it's often best to wait until just before their turn 4 to TS, so that they have the most chances to draw that spell.
But, as others have said, it always depends. There are no easy answers, just general rules.
I think playing a deck that you like and that suits your style is an underrated aspect of tournament Magic. Especially if you plan to attend big events like GPs, it's an advantage to play a deck that suits your mental style, so that it uses less mental resources. For example, my brother plays GR Tron, and he performs certain sequences perfectly with the deck, without any thought, that I have to think about each time when I play it. The same goes with me and my various Loxodon Smiter decks. If you can become so familiar with a deck that you barely have to think about its common lines of play, you will be less mentally fatigued by the time Round 7 rolls around.
Round 1 vs Ensoul Affinity
Game one I get run over pretty quickly by an Ornothopter-Ensoul-Cranial Plating draw. Game two he mulls to five and I run over him with an average draw. Game three, things finally got interesting. He mulled to five, but it was one of those perfect Affinity mull to fives: Etched Champion into Ensoul, then Spellskite, also with Ensoul on it. He starts a race with the Ensoul-ed Champion, which I keep pretty even with Smiter-Smiter-Knight (only a 3/3, though, due to a fetch-light draw). He's at 15, I'm at 14, and he decides to go for it, attacking with the team (including a Blinkmoth Nexus). I don't block and go to 3. He plays a Signal Pest and passes. End of turn I Bolt him (puts him to 12), untap, Vandalblast the Pest, sac a Horizon Canopy to make Knight 4/4, and swing for 12 and the win.
Round 2 vs monoblue Illusions
He was a newer player, playing his first Modern tournament, so it was an easy win, frankly. In particular, Dromoka's Command was amazing, as in this matchup it reads: "Destroy two target creatures." He was a cool guy, though. I gave him some deckbuilding advice and general tournament advice (such as "Sleeve your cards."). His deck wasn't very strong, but he seemed like a good enough player (he won his first round match, so he knew what he was doing). I hope he keeps coming out.
Round 3 vs Jund
Game 1 showedcased the power of Collected Company, and why I love it in Zoo, even though our creatures aren't "value." I had an average start, and he proceeded to Jund me, chaining together Lillianas to reduce the board to Nacatl vs Tormogoyf, with both of us hellbent (side note: my two Lili discards were lands, taking my Knight to 8/8 before having it Terminated). My topdeck: Collected Company into Finks + Knight. Nothing beats CoCo for helping you rebuild your board. I won from there. Game two he mulled to six, keeping a hand with 2x Blackcleve Cliffs as his only two lands. I play out an average draw and he misses two land drops and scoops. He was a little on tilt from the Game 1 CoCo, and seemed dismissive of my deck throughout, so I guess the landscrew was just more than he could take, as he was far from dead when he conceded. Oh well, I'll take it.
Round 4 vs CoCo Zoo
We drew, splitting prizes.
Overall, obviously happy with the deck. While waiting for the match slip, I compared notes with my would-be opponent, and he gave me some good advice. My sideboard was a mess, as my graveyard hate would non-bo with my Knights. The issue was that my deck has been slowly morphing from GW Hatebears into CoCo Zoo for a few months now, but I haven't changed my sideboard much, if at all. So the sideboard will definitely be redesigned from the ground up. One card that I did like, though, was Vandalblast. I like it because you can just nuke them from orbit with the overload if you get to 5 mana, but even when you don't having a CMC 1 "destroy target artifact" spell is fine vs Affinity. It also lets you side it in vs stuff like Tron or Spellskites, whereas narrower spells like Creeping Corrosion are really only good vs Affinity.
I don't remember any of the old allies being good for this deck so we will need to get something pretty sweet to make him playable. If you want a life gain ETB effect why not just put 4 copies of that new cleric of the forward order in the sideboard? That will probably do way more than this new 3/2.
Not to go too far down this fairly meaningless sidetrack, but Lone Missionary is probably better than Cleric.
I'm coming back to the deck after a fairly lengthy hiatus playing D&T. Can anyone fill me on on our gameplan vs Collected Company decks? Our search hate is still solid, and I see Grafdigger's Cages making a comeback in sideboards. Anything else I'm missing?
I love all Plains with good art, but John Avon is my favorite. I have a binder where I've got every plains ever released, in order. (It's not done yet, only about 80% so far.)
I think the "Modern decks share too many cards with Legacy decks" argument would only matter if the formats started to become too similar overall; if that happened, what would be the point of having two formats? But clearly -- based on both the eyeball test and the stats Kith gave us -- that's in no danger of happening.
@sd2: yes spellskite isn't aggressive but I think you might be underestimating the applications. Of course it is amazing against twin and infect like you say, but it is also an instant win against bogles preboard (and very good otherwise). It stops ravager for affinity, it stops scapeshift from killing you, it stops slayers stronghold from amulet, it is a decent roadbump against burn and protects your important creatures in removal heavy matchups. Also, yes twin certainly does care about it even if they aren't trying to combo off (which they should be) since it stops bolts and tap effects.
Now I'm not saying that its the perfect card and I wouldn't run more than one maindeck, but its applications are very wide. I'd play some in the board at the very least.
I agree with this assessment. I've been running Hatebears since I got into modern, but am switching to D&T, and I've run 1 maindeck Spellskite (with a second in the SB) forever.
Matchups it's great in: Twin, Boggles, Infect, Burn, anything that plays bolts
Matchups that it's ok in: Scapeshift, Affinity (blocks Etched Champion, turns of Modular)
Matchups where it's at least useful: anything that plays targeted removal - at least it can eat a removal spell for one of your useful guys
My interest in tournament Magic has definitely risen and fallen based on how degenerate Standard is. I played from Revised until I quit during Urza's because of Combo Winter. I came back at the end of Invasion block and played until Ravager Affinity made me quit again. I flirted with coming back when I looked at Zendikar and liked it, only to be driven back out by Cawblade. I came back at the tail end of Scars/Inn standard and played until it degenerated into nothing but UW Control and monoblack. I came back with the release of Khans, and love the current Standard.
"Good game" is a culturally accepted shorthand for "Thank you for playing this game with me." Just as "Good morning" is shorthand for "It is morning. Hello, I acknowledge your presence." Failing to respond in kind to a "good game" -- or worse, giving the petty, vindictive "no, it wasn't" will likely get you the same response as responding to a "good morning" with "No, it isn't. It's raining!" We're not banging on people for responding like that because what they're saying isn't necessarily true; we're banging on them because they're reacting to something that isn't there. They're reacting as if they've somehow been insulted, when no insult was intended. I think the only thing that would cause me to not give a return "good game" and/or shake hands is if my opponent cheated; and even then, I still might, if only to prove that even though he may not be a good sport, I am.
And as a side note, be prepared to have people weirded out when you refuse to shake their hand, too, even if it's "for hygiene reasons." As others have said, you can reinterpret or ignore as many social conventions as you like -- but when you do, you can't really complain about it when people get offended. You're the one acting unusually, not them.
Just coming to this deck from Bant Evolution and other related brews, but we do have access to Ghost Quarter. Paired with Surgical Extraction out of the sideboard, sometimes you can just locked Valakut decks out of the game that way. It will often be too slow, but sometimes they draw a Valakut in their opener and can't hold it; or they give you a window by fetching a mountain and one Valakut with the first Titan activation. It helps that Extraction is useful in other matchups, too, which helps conserve sideboard space.
I don't like Evolution in Zoo, because it's card disadvantage; it just gives your opponent too many opportunities to blow you out. Let's look at the "ceiling and floor," a concept Patrick Chapin talked about in a recent podcast:
Ceiling: You Evolve your mana dork into a turn-2 Knight of the Reliquary. So what? This deck regularly plays one of its redundant 3-drop on turn 2 without saccing the mana dork in the process.
Ceiling: You Evolve your Voice into a 3-or-4 drop, leaving behind a token. This is probably the actual ceiling, as you actually get to cheat on mana a little, possibly getting your 4-drop down a bit earlier, and Voice mitigates the card disadvantage a little. Again, though, with a mana dork, big zoo decks can play their 4-drop on turn 3 anyways, without 2-for-1ing themselves.
Floor: You Evolve your mana dork into a turn-2 Knight of the Reliquary. Your opponent Paths your Knight. Or plays Liliana and now your knight doesn't have a mana dork to eat the -2 for her.
Bottom line: You want Evolution in a deck where the tutor effect is a big deal. Zoo decks tend to be very redundant, and thus don't need a tutor effect very badly; the fact that this particular tutor effect 2-for-1s you every time you cast it just seals the deal.
You really don't need to go much farther than this article; it is excellent.
Since you brought it up in your OP, one of the biggest things I took away from the article was "don't always rush to Thoughtseize on turn 1." I see lots of people always TS on turn 1 (and I used to do so automatically, too), when it's often not the best play - especially if doing so means you're going to start the game at 15. Unless waiting past turn one ruins your curve, you should actually often be *waiting* as long as possible. For instance, if your opponent's best spell is at CMC 4, it's often best to wait until just before their turn 4 to TS, so that they have the most chances to draw that spell.
But, as others have said, it always depends. There are no easy answers, just general rules.
Here's the list:
[DECK]
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Scavenging Ooze
2 Qasali Pridemage
4 Loxodon Smiter
4 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Kitchen Finks
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
2 Dromoka's Command
3 Collected Company
1 Elspth, Knight-Errant
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Stomping Ground
2 Temple Garden
1 Sacred Foundry
2 Forest
1 Plains
1 Mountain
2 Horizon Canopy
2 Stirring Wildwood
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Kessig Wolfrun
Sideboard:
2 Rest in Peace
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Grim Lavamancer
1 Vandalblast
1 Stony Silence
1 Linvala, Keeper of Secrets
2 Spellskite
2 Celestial Purge
1 Combust
2 Kitchen Finks
1 Worship
Round 1 vs Ensoul Affinity
Game one I get run over pretty quickly by an Ornothopter-Ensoul-Cranial Plating draw. Game two he mulls to five and I run over him with an average draw. Game three, things finally got interesting. He mulled to five, but it was one of those perfect Affinity mull to fives: Etched Champion into Ensoul, then Spellskite, also with Ensoul on it. He starts a race with the Ensoul-ed Champion, which I keep pretty even with Smiter-Smiter-Knight (only a 3/3, though, due to a fetch-light draw). He's at 15, I'm at 14, and he decides to go for it, attacking with the team (including a Blinkmoth Nexus). I don't block and go to 3. He plays a Signal Pest and passes. End of turn I Bolt him (puts him to 12), untap, Vandalblast the Pest, sac a Horizon Canopy to make Knight 4/4, and swing for 12 and the win.
Round 2 vs monoblue Illusions
He was a newer player, playing his first Modern tournament, so it was an easy win, frankly. In particular, Dromoka's Command was amazing, as in this matchup it reads: "Destroy two target creatures." He was a cool guy, though. I gave him some deckbuilding advice and general tournament advice (such as "Sleeve your cards."). His deck wasn't very strong, but he seemed like a good enough player (he won his first round match, so he knew what he was doing). I hope he keeps coming out.
Round 3 vs Jund
Game 1 showedcased the power of Collected Company, and why I love it in Zoo, even though our creatures aren't "value." I had an average start, and he proceeded to Jund me, chaining together Lillianas to reduce the board to Nacatl vs Tormogoyf, with both of us hellbent (side note: my two Lili discards were lands, taking my Knight to 8/8 before having it Terminated). My topdeck: Collected Company into Finks + Knight. Nothing beats CoCo for helping you rebuild your board. I won from there. Game two he mulled to six, keeping a hand with 2x Blackcleve Cliffs as his only two lands. I play out an average draw and he misses two land drops and scoops. He was a little on tilt from the Game 1 CoCo, and seemed dismissive of my deck throughout, so I guess the landscrew was just more than he could take, as he was far from dead when he conceded. Oh well, I'll take it.
Round 4 vs CoCo Zoo
We drew, splitting prizes.
Overall, obviously happy with the deck. While waiting for the match slip, I compared notes with my would-be opponent, and he gave me some good advice. My sideboard was a mess, as my graveyard hate would non-bo with my Knights. The issue was that my deck has been slowly morphing from GW Hatebears into CoCo Zoo for a few months now, but I haven't changed my sideboard much, if at all. So the sideboard will definitely be redesigned from the ground up. One card that I did like, though, was Vandalblast. I like it because you can just nuke them from orbit with the overload if you get to 5 mana, but even when you don't having a CMC 1 "destroy target artifact" spell is fine vs Affinity. It also lets you side it in vs stuff like Tron or Spellskites, whereas narrower spells like Creeping Corrosion are really only good vs Affinity.
Not to go too far down this fairly meaningless sidetrack, but Lone Missionary is probably better than Cleric.
I love all Plains with good art, but John Avon is my favorite. I have a binder where I've got every plains ever released, in order. (It's not done yet, only about 80% so far.)
Otherwise, just do with them what you do with all your other unplayable commons: use them as proxies, toss them aside in a box, or throw them away.
I agree with this assessment. I've been running Hatebears since I got into modern, but am switching to D&T, and I've run 1 maindeck Spellskite (with a second in the SB) forever.
Matchups it's great in: Twin, Boggles, Infect, Burn, anything that plays bolts
Matchups that it's ok in: Scapeshift, Affinity (blocks Etched Champion, turns of Modular)
Matchups where it's at least useful: anything that plays targeted removal - at least it can eat a removal spell for one of your useful guys
And as a side note, be prepared to have people weirded out when you refuse to shake their hand, too, even if it's "for hygiene reasons." As others have said, you can reinterpret or ignore as many social conventions as you like -- but when you do, you can't really complain about it when people get offended. You're the one acting unusually, not them.