A Zoo, A Zoo, My kingdom for a Zoo............
The road to zoo has been a long one and even now I don't know if I want this to be my MTG Brew child. Zoo is a deck brewed out of necessity not love. Yet as time went by I found myself updating and tweaking the zoo deck list more and more. Never far from my mind I have molded it to become a true aggro deck the only differences between it and others being that it could still win after turn 3 and 4 pretty regularly. Zoo has become a hybrid of aggro and tempo, as such the deck requires a true understanding of it in order to pilot it.

Zoo is a Highly tweakable deck with the original list featuring things like Kird Ape and Loam Lion with Wild Nacatl. Over the years I have tried cards like Burning-Tree Emissary, Goblin Guide, Experiment One, and even Tarmogoyf. The problem with this take is that you are going for a creature based aggro deck going wide and staying low. This approach makes the Zoo deck weak to board wipes such as Anger of the Gods. cards like Goblin Guide work in burn style decks because the burn spells more then make up for the card advantage you may give your opponent.

Zoo's classic weakness was to combo decks as it doesn't interact with other decks it either wins on turns 3 or 4 or it loses. With the printing of Reckless Bushwhacker Zoo morphed into an aggro-combo deck.
Burning-Tree Emissary and Reckless Bushwhacker can make for a powerful pair as this combo can lead to some of the quickest kills the deck can stitch together. Any 1-drop into Burning-Tree Emissary and Buchwhacker on turn 2 will deal 8 or more damage. Nacatl into Burning-Tree Emissary, Burning-Tree Emissary, Bushwhacker is a turn-2 attack for 12. While this line up can and does happen, this is not Yu-Gi-Oh and the heart of the cards are rarely that nice to anyone. This combo is best if it takes place turn 2. Sometimes you’ll unload some additional powerful creatures and combo off turn 3. Bushwhacker can be a great card in this deck, especially with so many 1-mana creatures to go along with the “free” Burning-Tree Emissary. A turn-3 Nacatl into Bushwhacker can represent an additional 8 damage out of nowhere. Bushwhacker is a powerful engine, but with that being said it is still non interactive deck. If I wanted to play aggro-combo the deck choice would be U/G Infect. U/G Infect does not go wide instead plays protect the queen. This in turn enables it to be more interactive with other decks if only to protect its queen aka Glistener Elf or Blighted Agent.

There was also a time where Zoo was built to be an aggro-control deck. These Zoo deck were 4 colors and even called Counter Cat. These decks took advantage of cards like Noble Hierarch and Knight of the Reliquary and Bant Charm, with Knight of the Reliquary providing a flexible manabase and a late-game finisher. The problem with this build is that it struggled with its identity. No true control deck can afford to tap out on their turn very often. As such this is a lack luster control build that relies on playing creatures for the win something that no control deck does is play many creatures much less more the 18. Once more the amount of mana needed to get this deck going is much higher then other zoo builds.

Zoo aggro-tempo is built in such a way that it attacks as if its infect and seeks to control the tempo of the game by playing cards that remove obstacles before they have the opportunity to become a problem. An example of this would be playing Qasali Pridemage. Its a creature yet it can destroy an artifact or enchantment out on the field the moment the artifact or enchantment is played before that happens however Qasali Pridemage often gets a few points of damage in. This is very important as other cards used to destroy artifacts or enchantments such as Destructive Revelry can only deal damage once where Qasali Pridemage may deal damage more then once before it is destroyed. Another way Zoo aggro-tempo seeks to control the tempo of the game is by playing cards that create obstacles well being built to play around them utilizing cards like Blood Moon for instance.



Taking a deeper look at the cards that Zoo has played with over the years and the patterns that have emerged.

Vexing Devil was always a one of, the problem with Vexing Devil is that Zoo wants a board presence at all times, this includes turn one. Burning a player for 4 is nice but nothing will happen turn two. By turn three your opponent should feel as if they are in trouble in your fastest startups, and by turn four and there after any creature that gets through should be able to kill your opponent. For this all you need is a 1/1 swinging. The few times Vexing Devil does land turn one there is almost always a Path, Blot, or Push waiting for it. For these reasons Vexing Devil is both overkill and underwhelming.

Burning – Tree embassy (BTE) has been great. In the past there have been many times I have gotten not one but two out and an extra creature out on turn two. The problem with this is that if the last creature is not Reckless Bushwhacker it gives your opponent the opportunity to respond. The other issue is that 90% of Magic is Mental misstep. When you have no cards in your hand your opponent is no longer thinking about what you can do. Your threats have all been played and you have affectively become a beast that has been defanged. To put it simply because you have chosen to go wide and your resources are not only spread out, they must also line up perfectly. You are playing Magic not Yu-Gi-Oh, and although it may be cool to believe in the heart of the cards this is the real world and that shit just doesn’t work. The chances of top decking a win con in a deck that goes wide is just never going to happen. It is because of this that Ghor-Clan Rampager shines through. Rather than becoming a defanged beast you are no a cornered animal and there is nothing more dangerous then a cornered animal.

Ghor-Clan Rampager is an All-Star in more ways then one. At four CMC he may be at the top of the curve however his Bloodrush AND Trample abilities is what enablers crazy early games. Bloodrushing on a Wild Nacatl or Adorned Pouncer gets you anywhere between 1 to 10 damage making it highly possible to kill an opponent on turn three. Again, it is very important for Zoo to have a body out on the battlefield. At times a 1 to 3 toughness isn’t going to cut it and be able to stay in the board, and sometimes dropping a 4/4 with trample is all you need to seal the game. On top of this because Bloodrush is an uncountable ability it is even an ideal card to play against control match ups.

Speaking of All-Stars an unsung hero of the modern format is Dryad Militant. Many decks love to reoccur spells and Dryad Militant really helps to slow things down. Dryad Militant may not stop an instant or sorcery from being used but it does exile it after. To put it into prospective Tarmogoyf has a harder time getting bigger quickly and any deck that needs to full up the graveyard to delve or even flat out stop Nexus of Fate from going back into the library. There are even times where this one card will be the most important card to get into play turn one. Keep in mind that Dryad Militant is one of only two on Dryad Militant one drop creature with Wild Nacatl being the second. Together they take up 8 cards and although it may be tempting to take Dryad Militant out at times it is more important to get a body out turn one more times than not. Keep Dryad Militant in at all times.  It may seem strange to play a copy of Noxious Revival when playing Dryad Militant but of Noxious Revival is simple the 5th copy of other cards in the deck. Keep in mind that Noxious Revival puts any card back on top of your library, so even if you cant get a bolt back you can still get back a creature…… AKA Ghor-Clan Rampager…… AKA Broodrush…. AKA a win con if needed.

Every now and again A Blood Moon rises over the modern meta and for a season it can be devastating, as such the mana base for zoo is built to work around Blood Moon. Almost always the first land you should search for is a basic plains. If green is needed Temple Garden with the understanding that it will most likely become a mountain shortly after being played. Searching for basic lands becomes key so much so it can be the right move to path of exile your own creature to insure you get that much needed color land. Blood Moon is also main boarded when in the 75. When it is good it is great and when it is bad it can still be fader for Hazoret the Fervent and in some builds even Smuggler's Copter. This is also a reason why Blood moon is the first card sided boarded out more often than not.

As of now Zoo's only two weaknesses are life gain and drawing more cards a weakness so great that cards like Hazoret the Fervent were put in the help with this issue. Two cards that require further study as potential fixes for this would be Once Upon a Time and Light Up the Stage. Currently  Smuggler's Copter is being tsetse to see if its a viable option for drawing cards.

The Side board of Zoo


The side board for zoo is very unique in the sense that it changes with the mata more easily then other decks. For example when Clotho suggested that Loxodon Smiter be played hollow one decks were everywhere, and there is no better feeling the dropping a few 4/4's into play for free turn one. the mata has changed however and and it may be time to take Loxodon Smiter out the same could be said about cards like Kor Firewalker. When red decks are everywhere Kor Firewalker is a must have sliver bullet but with Phoenix and burn decks not running amok its not as important in the side. For the most part most cards in the side board should be creatures. Stony silence is a staple in most decks however Zoo should be running cards like

Cards being Playtested

Silence has yet to find the right build. It may be no good in this deck but is still worth of more play testing.


Playtested and Cut - the cards that could not keep up with the power of Zoo

At first glance Atarka’s Command looks like it would go great in Zoo but in all my play testing with the card it has been very rare I get the opportunity to use it as anything other the a 2 drop burn spell although powerful I believe this is a card only meant to be played with next deck with a larger focus on creatures 16 to 20 isn't enough to run it. It one of the reasons why some Naya burn decks no longer run it.

Bloodbraid Elf looks like it would be good in this deck but the 4 mana cost is to much often it will sit in my hand  unplayable because I need to have the ability to respond or protect.

Ajani Vengeant  is better then Domri Rade in zoo however neither of them are going to win you the game flat out and on turn 4 you should be going for a kill not trying to gain 3 life for 4 cmc.

Loam Lion as well as Kire Ape have both been cut for being to vanilla.

Rancor like Ghor-Clan Rampager is a very efficient way to push through extra damage. the only problem is that it is not a creature and so at times can be very lack luster.