Extended League - Three Drop Zoo
20 Feb 2010 | Jack Ding
Much like Week 1 of the Legacy League, I decided to run Zoo for Week 1 of the Extended League. I generally like to run aggressive decks when I do not know what the format looks like and Zoo is the best aggressive deck in the format. This was my list:
Lands: (22)
1 [ARE] Mountain (3)
1 [WWK] Stirring Brush
1 [DIS] Hallowed Fountain
4 [ZEN] Scalding Tarn
2 [GP] Stomping Ground
1 [RAV] Temple Garden
1 [ARE] Forest (8)
1 [RAV] Sacred Foundry
1 [ARE] Plains (4)
4 [ZEN] Arid Mesa
4 [ZEN] Misty Rainforest
1 [GP] Steam Vents
Creatures: (25) )
4 [FNM] Kird Ape
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
4 [ARB] Qasali Pridemage
4 [CNF] Knight of the Reliquary
3 [ALA] Woolly Thoctar
2 [ALA] Ranger of Eos
Spells: (13)
4 [CNF] Path to Exile
2 [BOK] Umezawa’s Jitte
3 [ALA] Bant Charm
Sideboard: (15)
1 [DIS] Ghost Quarter
3 [TSB] Tormod’s Crypt
1 [TSP] Ancient Grudge
4 [M10] Negate
4 [ARB] Meddling Mage
2 [CNF] Volcanic Fallout
The only things which are unusual about this Zoo list are the extra three drops and the inclusion of both Ranger of Eos and Umezawa’s Jitte. This was mostly to give the deck an edge in the Zoo mirror as extra burn spells or one drops are not very useful since the games usually come down to a war of attrition and the biggest monster left on the table wins (any creature carrying a Jitte is automatically the biggest monster on the table). The list is undeniably a little soft against fast combo decks and the sideboard acknowledges this.
Round 1 v Gavin (Affinity)
Game 1 was rather one sided as my opponent kept a sketchy hand with no blue mana. He managed to play an Ornithopter, some Frogmites and a Ravager which were easily overrun by my Qasali Pridemage and triple Knight of the Reliquary. He ended the game being unable to cast the Master of Etheriums in hand. An easy game to start a tournament is always appreciated.
Sideboard: -1 Ranger of Eos +1 Ancient Grudge
Game 2 I kept a borderline hand of Scalding Tarn double Path to Exile double Bant Charm Woolly Thoctar and Tarmogoyf. Fortunately my first draw step yielded a land. However, my opponent vomited his hand on the 2nd turn as Affinity tends to do. The board position included Ravager, Ornithopter, Frogmite, Arcbound Worker and a Myr Enforcer opposite my two lands. I drew and played another land and cast a 4/5 Tarmogoyf before passing the turn. My opponent sent in his team and I chose to block a Frogmite. I Pathed his Ravager at the end of his turn and he put the modular counters on the Ornithopter. Luckily I drew my miser’s Ancient Grudge the next turn which hit both the Master of Etherium he drew and the Myr Enforcer. The Bant Charms cleaned up the Ornithopter as well as a Blinkmoth Nexus. At this stage I had stabilized the board position with Tarmogoyf and Woolly Thoctar facing down two Arcbound Workers. However I was on 5 and dead to Shrapnel Blast at any time if he drew it. Fortunately he did not and my large dudes ran him over.
Round 2 v Eddison (Standard Jund + Goyf/Jitte)
This matchup was not one which I was looking forward to playing. And here I was thinking that I would be able to get away from the Jundfest that is the Standard Metagame in Sydney by playing Extended. Despite building my deck to have an edge in the Zoo mirror I doubted that it would be able to handle the plethora of 2 for 1’s that the Standard Jund port would pack. Game 1 went exactly as I feared as he Lightning Bolted my one drop, Maelstrom Pulsed both my three drops and cast Bloodbraid Elf into more creatures than I could deal with. Not a close game.
Sideboard: Nothing
Game 2 was a rather boring affair as the Jund manabase did what it is legendary at doing. He did not have a 4th land or a 2nd green source to cast the pair of Kitchen Finks in his hand. As an aside, Ranger of Eos is rather awkward when your opponent is playing both Crime/Punishment and Maelstrom Pulse. If you fetch two Wild Nacatl and cast them both you risk running into Maelstrom Pulse, if you fetch a Wild Nacatl and a Kird Ape and cast them both you risk running into Crime/Punishment. If you fetch two Wild Nacatl and only cast one then you risk running into Blightning. The best play is probably to fetch two Wild Nacatl and cast them both. This way even if he Pulses your Nacatl you are still up a card although this decision obviously also depends on the game state at the time.
Game 3 I kept a weak but serviceable hand of double Bant Charm Wild Nacatl Woolly Thoctar and three lands. My opponent kept a strong hand (he showed me after the game) of Maelstrom Pulse double Bloodbraid Elf and three lands. Unfortunately for him his turn 1 play was Sensei’s Divining Top.
Round 3 v Hao (UR Land Destruction)
Despite watching my opponent play a game in the previous round I am still unsure of how his deck operates beyond the 2005 standard plan of cast big monster and Wildfire the board. Game 1 I keep a hand of Misty Rainforest double Scalding Tarn double Knight of the Reliquary Path to Exile and Wild Nacatl. The Wild Nacatl eats a Lightning Bolt immediately and the Tarmogoyf I drew is dealt with by a Rune Snag. The first Knight of the Reliquary resolves as a 5/5 and despite getting Boomerang’d once the 2nd Knight also resolved. My opponent was stuck on three lands and could only suspend an Ancestral Visions and died to the Knights shortly.
Sideboard: +4 Negate +4 Meddling Mage -4 Path to Exile -4 Qasali Pridemage
I gladly kept my five land double Tarmogoyf hand game 2. My opponent plays an untapped shockland in anticipation of my 1 drop which never appeared. Both Tarmgoyfs met Rune Snags although the Kird Ape I drew resolved. However my opponent dropped a Blood Moon and the only basic I had was a Plains. This allowed me to cast the Ranger of Eos in hand for two 1/1 Kird Apes. My opponent was also shut off his blue mana by the Blood Moon and played a morph. I sent in the team for two turns and two of the Apes were eaten but not before getting my opponent down to 2. At this stage it was pretty obvious that the morph was Akroma, Angel of Fury and he finally hit his 6th land drop. Obviously my deck was not in the mood to be insulted by losing to such a random card and gave me a forest off the top to grow my Ape enough for lethal damage.
Round 4 v Hash (Hypergenesis)
I got paired down against Hypergenesis for the final round aka the unwinnable matchup. Game 1 as I have no disruption for his combo I can play as aggressively as possible and hope he doesn’t have the combo or he fizzles. I keep a hand of double Wild Nacatl Kird Ape Woolly Thoctar and three lands. I dump my hand in three turns and am still alive which is a good sign. My opponent cast a Thirst for Knowledge end of turn and untaps into Demonic Dread. I was prepared to scoop up my cards at the first sign of stupidly expensive monsters except all he could manage was a Simian Spirit Guide and a Kiki Jiki. Classic example of how to win game 1 against Hypergenesis with Zoo.
Sideboard: +4 Negate +4 Meddling Mage -4 Qasali Pridemage -4 Path to Exile
I keep a solid hand of two land Meddling Mage Kird Ape Woolly Thoctar and double Bant Charm. My opponent mulligans down to 5 and misses his 2nd land drop. I drop Meddling Mage on Hypergenesis and prepare to counter any removal he throws at it with Bant Charms (except Firespout of course) but he scoops after looking at his top card. Everyone should learn to channel Kuanling’s School of Mise if they want to win this matchup because it is seriously your best chance.
For discussion.