[Time Spiral] RGW Aggro: Zoo for States

[Anusien]

For reference, Mike Flores's list (Premium)

Anyway, I've been really excited for Zoo in States.  I had a RGW Threshold-Zoo hybrid and that formed like a 30 card core for what I'm doing now.  It's now strictly Zoo, as in it doesn't suffer from Zoo's mana problems.  It plays more like RGw with the white just a splash for Lightning Helix, Watchwolf, and Loxodon Hierarch.

// Lands
    4 Stomping Ground
    4 Temple Garden
    4 Sacred Foundry
    6 Mountain
    2 Forest
    1 Battlefield Forge
    1 Brushland

// Creatures
    4 Magus of the Scroll
    4 Watchwolf
    4 Scab-Clan Mauler
    3 Burning-Tree Shaman
    2 Giant Solifuge
    2 Rumbling Slum
    4 Kird Ape

// Spells
    4 Char
    4 Lightning Helix
    4 Rift Bolt
    3 Call of the Herd

The first thing to remember when testing it is that you always need to play your turn 1 lands to maximize your 2 drops.  You can't start with a Mountain for Kird Ape and plan for a turn 2 Stomping Grounds when you have Temple Garden in your hand.  You might topdeck Watchwolf and need to slam that puppy down on turn 2.  The proper play with your lands is to take the damage from shocklands and always maximize your colors.

Animal Curve:
1CC: 8
2CC: 8
3CC: 6 (Call of the Herd counts as a 3)
4CC: 4

Any hand on the play that enables a turn 2 Scab-Clan Mauler gets kept, and probably any hand that can 1 drop into a Watchwolf.  This is the main reason why I don't like Assault//Battery; it's worse than Call of the Herd, the 4s, and theoretically better than Seal of Fire except for turning on turn 2 Scab-Clan Mauler.  If you're on the play (or even on the draw versus a shockland), you have 12 guaranteed turn 1 plays that give you a turn 2 Scab-Clan Mauler.  It's almost acceptable to miss a 1drop, but you absolutely need some sort of of oof on turn 2.  I think you're allowed to miss one animal drop from turns 1-3.  Kird Ape + nothing + BTS is acceptable, Kird Ape + Scab-Clan + nothing is acceptable, but nothing + nothing + BTS is bad (even if those "nothings" are really Char you or Seal of Fire or whatever).

You notice that I don't have a lot of the cards that people like Flores are running.  Savannah Lions I kicked to the curb for mana reasons.  Might of Old Krosa is theoretically a Char, but every worthwhile player will have outs, like Condemn.  If it gave Trample to jump over horsies, then maybe.  As it stands, you basically want to just keep getting in there with animals.  You almost don't even have to ration your threats to get around Wrath since you have so many of them.
Tin-Street Hooligan seems like a decent beater versus control since he can 187 a Signet, but most UW and UR control lists I've seen aren't running a signet.  Plus, he sucks (nut low) versus aggro matches, and probably doesn't do nearly as much damage as just getting in there with Scabbie does.

Why should you look at this deck?  In my testing I've been really giving UW Control a hard time; and if they miss a land drop or draw poorly from 1-4 it's pretty much over.  As it is, I think it's in your favor anyway since they have to trade at better than 1 for 1 or lose to just a critical mass of damage, land pings, BTS pings, and burn.

Sideboarding is not set yet, because the maindeck is still getting tweaked.  I know against aggro I want to take advantage of the fact that I'm running more lands and bring in more Hierarchs and large creatures.  I may even board in another land.  I'm still not sure what cards are weak here.  I probably want to turn Solifuges into Rumbling Slums.
Versus control, I have no idea.  I think Avalanche Riders and Cryoclasm both seem like solid threats, but who knows?  Call of the Herd is where I'm focusing most of my attention.  It is ridiculous versus Wrath, but pretty poor versus Repeal.  I really don't know if I want to bring in #4 or take out 1-3.  It really depends on the wide variance of UW control lists.

Tentative sideboard:
// Aggro Slots
2 Rumbling Slum
1 Loxodon Hierarch
1 Battlefield Forge
3 Savage Twister

// Control Slots
4 Avalanche Riders
4 Cyroclasm

Manabase thoughts: should one of the lands be a Pillar of the Paruns?  2?

[Vegeta2711]

Why Hierarch? If you want to purely win the aggro-matches wouldn't Rumbling Slum or even Stalking Yeti be better picks?

Also have you considered Rift Bolt? It's kind of like a Volc. Hammer that's one mana cheaper.

[Anusien]

I'm completely dumb and wrong.  Replaced Hierarchs main with Slums, kept the 2 Slums in the board, and made the third giant man a Hierarch.  Also, replaced Pyroclasms with Twisters.  Updated list.

I'm not sure about Yeti since it seems like most of the time in the Zoo matchups it's simply going to trade.  Hierarch keeps them off burn, but I don't know I'll have to test and find out.

Rift Bolt really sems very chaffy.  Like it could have some nuts draws, but I can't see it being better than anything in the list right now.

[Roxas]

Seal of Fire seems to usually go to the dome, so I can see cutting that for Rift Bolt. Rift Bolt takes out those Angels and Court Hussars I beat you with all the time too.

[Anusien]

Rift Bolt doesn't enable turn 2 Scab-Clan Mauler on the draw; it's likely that Kird Ape could eat a Condemn.

However, I'll look at it and see when I massacre Roxas next.

Seal of Fire goes to creatures in aggro matchups much more though.

[Roxas]

Rift Bolt doesn't enable turn 2 Scab-Clan Mauler on the draw; it's likely that Kird Ape could eat a Condemn.

However, I'll look at it and see when I massacre Roxas next.

Seal of Fire goes to creatures in aggro matchups much more though.

How doesn't it enable Scab-Clan Mauler on turn two? Suspend it on turn one, play it on your second upkeep, and then play the Mauler during your main phase?

[Anusien]

Totally missed that it was Suspend 1.  Totally giving that a try now.

[Nazdakka]

This is my current test list for Zoo. I intend to play this deck at a big tourney the week before Champs, and possibly at Champs (I may not go)

// Lands
    3  Battlefield Forge
    2  Karplusan Forest
    4  Sacred Foundry
    4  Stomping Ground
    4  Temple Garden
    3  Gemstone Mine
    1  Gemstone Caverns

// Creatures
    4  Savannah Lions
    4  Watchwolf
    4  Kird Ape
    4  Icatian Javelineers
    4  Dryad Sophisticate

// Spells
    4  Char
    4  Lightning Helix
    4  Call of the Herd
    4  Seal of Fire
    3  Moldervine Cloak

// Sideboard
SB: 4  Ronom Unicorn
SB: 4  Tin Street Hooligan
SB: 2  Magus of the Scroll
SB: 3  Stonewood Invocation
SB: 2  Tamanoa

- I've cut Scab-Clan Mauler (probably the worst creature in the normal lists) for Dryad Sophisticate because I feel Sophisticate is an extremely good way to keep the damage going through in the late game, plus it lets me ignore to some extent various little critters people will stick in my way. Moldervine on Sophisticate also makes me all happy inside.
- Icatian Javelineers are very strong. They kill mana critters, they give me even more reach, they don't need 3 mana and an empty hand, and they are pleasingly old-skool. I much prefer them to the Magus.
- Magus of the Scroll has a lot of hype behind him, but in my testing he never seemed to actually do anything.
- Whether to use Gemstone Caverns is a bit of a puzzler for me. It's very nice for when you lose the die roll, but without the luck counter it isn't far off being a blank card, given there are so few uses for colourless mana.
- Call of the Herd is great to give the deck more endurance against removal (obv, I know). I rate 1 less mana and an extra Elephant much higher than Assault and Battery's potential shock.
- The SB is always tricky for this deck. The MD is very tight, and so I've set it up for easy like-for-like swaps with the 8 hate creatures. Other than those 8, I'm at a bit of a loss. Sideboards are not a strength of mine, and so the other 7 cards are anything but firm.

[Vegeta2711]

My basic Zoo list is like Nazdakka's with a few crucial differences.

I don't bother running Jav's, because I feel Magus has better mid-game potential while being a 1/1 dork people like spending removal on. You know, instead of on my good critters.

Dryad is nutty, I'm always impressed when people cut him for slow stuff like Solifuge and co. You know, slow blockable guys that don't come online till really late versus the unblockable and in-curve 2 drop.

Cloaks are a must. There the only way you win fair fights (i.e. hands you don't god draw) against opposing mid-range aggro or LD decks that go turn 3/4 Stalking Yeti, Slum or Hierarch.

COTH I really dislike in this deck. By the time you have 4 mana to flash him back, your opponent will probably be well on his way to winning. Elephant tokens look less good when staring down Akroma, Sacred Mesa or large Saprolings/Snakes. Against other aggro I rather wait the initial turn and drop down Slum. I much prefer Rift Bolt for added burn and increases the odds that I can make dual 2 drops on turn 2 if need be.

My board for reference:
4 Cryoclasm (Anti-Everything. These may actually be better in the maindeck, they hit 90% of the decks in the format)
3 Rumbling Slum (Anti-Aggro)
3 Wilderness Elemental (Half the decks in the format? Meet Mr. Trample You To Death. Especially with Cloaks.)
3 Tormod's Crypt (Anti-Flare)
2 Tin Street Hooligan (This is basically a open slot, I'm currently using these purely as 'Death to Signets'.)

Also why do none of these decks run Pendlehaven? Like I see 1-2 Gemstone Caverns in every list, yet none of them want to run the 1-2of land that will actually have an impact sometime? Bleh. BTW, it is possible to run 4 Caverns as a sideboard strategy and have it not suck. It's just never been that great as a random card in the maindeck though.

[Matt]

Now, take this with a grain of salt, coming from someone who hasn't played standard since it had a restricted list, but:

Isn't Watchwolf really bad?

There's a lot of burn going around and it all does 3 damage. Some X/4 action would probably be good. So what if it gets Charred, they're burning themselves AND losing tempo. I don't know the cardpool, does something like that exist for 2-3 mana? Something like Acridian?

WWolf makes you play white (ugh) and dies just like everything else. He seems non-good. Splash just for Helix and don't force yourself to have white mana by turn two.

That's what it seems like to me, anyway, from watching other people play Standard. The entire color white might be a red herring. You're not playing Hierarch, so if Watchwolf is bad, is Helix worth splashing for? I would try GRB and use Confidants or something. Dr. Robert dies to all the same stuff as Watchwolf but wins the game when he doesn't die. Wolf will never say that.

[Godder]

I haven't been testing as much as others on the board, but I think Watchwolf is worth it if only because there's still a lot of burn that does 2, and more importantly, there are a lot of 2/2s running around. That said, splashing White or Green to have Watchwolf is bad - at 2 mana, you want him coming out on turn 2, which means you need to commit to both colours or not bother.

[Keno]

White is necessairy because you want to most aggressive cards you can find and cram them into 1 deck. Savannah Lions, Lightning Helix and Watchwolf are some of the best and most aggressive cards for their costs. T1 Kird Ape, t2 Watchwolf is an incredible opening thats really hard for any deck to deal with, especially when backuped by burn. Playing Red, Green and White is hard, but not impossible because of all the pain/shocklands and Gemstone Mine. Sure you will take a lot of pain from your lands, but since your always the beatdown that doesn't matter until they start attacking, which is when you're losing most of the time.
Playing x/4 creatures is bad because the only good creatures in that category are Loxodon Hierarch and Rumbling Slum, both costing 4 mana. Thats fine against aggro (maybe), or in another deck, but maindeck in Zoo its too slow. Zoo often runs 20 lands, so that 4/4 or 5/5 might not even come into play until turn 6 or 7, right when you've already won, are already losing, are already dead or need that last burn spell to kill and opponent.

@Nazdakka and Vegeta2711: have you guys cut Scab Clan Mauler? If so can you explain why?

@all: what happenend to the spell checker? That option was really handy for us non-native englisch speaking memebers.

[Anusien]

Thoughts on Zoo.  I want to go ahead and put this out there even though I'm not going to play the deck because I feel that is one of the maybe two or three valid choices for T2.  Anyway:

Veggies's list is 100% right.  I saw a huge jump in my win percentage when on his suggestion I dropped the 4drops for better 2drops.  I also dropped Scab-Clan Mauler because it's not good against aggro, but if you're only goldfishing through Solar Flare it is probably worthwhile.

He's also 100% right about Dryad.  Multiple times I've had an opponent windmill slam Loxodon Hierarch, only for me to drop Dryad and cloak it up.

COTH is very very good against opposing aggro decks, but pretty poor against every single deck that runs Repeal (basically almost all of the them).

I don't like Javilineers because their whole shtick is they get in there for 1.  I like Mage because he gets in there for 2 multiple times.

Pendlehaven is actually really bad here.  It acts like a Forest to turn Kird Ape on and sometimes Magus; very rarely you go turn 1 Red source + Ape, turn 2 Pendlehaven get in for 2, turn 3 Forest, get in for 3.