Little Zoo

Modern* Xuhle

SCORE: 7 | 27 COMMENTS | 1791 VIEWS | IN 2 FOLDERS


LtMiller117 says... #1

Looks good, though consider Fleecemane Lion and scoot over pride age to the sideboard. And swap pillar for Shock unless you were going for the exile part, in which case! use Magma Spray .

July 9, 2014 12:44 a.m.

Xuhle says... #2

Affinty, is like 9% of the aggro meta.

Pod is 13% of Combo meta.

Twin is another 11% of Combo meta.

I think Qasali Pridemage deserves at least 2 slots in the main... they are just so good. They hit so many targets in alot of decks.Plus they also act as a beat stick. It allows Experiment One attack for 3 on turn two, Goblin Guide attack for 3 on turn two ... Wild Nacatl attack for 4 on turn 2.

Pillar of Flame is there for Pod decks, Kitchen Finks -Voice of Resurgence -Melira, Sylvok Outcast Magma spray doesn't target players, Instant speed isn't as relevant since the list is an aggro list. Path to Exile might just be better here but see Pillar of Flame hits birds as well.

July 9, 2014 1:04 a.m.

LtMiller117 says... #3

Ah, my mistake. Shoulda payed more attention to that. Let me try again then. :)So cards that I have seen help other decks similar to this are Splinter and Scour . That shuts down all three of the decks you previously listed. Also, some use a couple Alpha Authority for hexproof and one blocker. Hope those ideas are better. I don't see a lot of zoo at my meta so I'm a bit rusty on it.

July 9, 2014 1:15 a.m.

Xuhle says... #4

Thank you for your Imput LtMiller117

Splinter and Scour are CMC 4 which is 'VERY' expensive. Where as Qasali Pridemage Is a creature that can sit out and deal damage. (Look in the side board at Ancient Grudge and Destructive Revelry ) which is 3 more artifact removal spells.

In regards to Alpha Authority I want to steer away from aura spells. Because UWR control have a huge amout of instant speed interactions (not to mention Twin and JUND) There is a high probability of them killing the creature in response to an Alpha Authority . Even if i stick it.. it doesn't buff my creatures, and they can still die to a sweeper (Anger of the Gods ). Rancor is a card that is cast with a lot of care in mind. Usually only into open blue or green mana. Never white or red. (Lightning Bolt and Path to Exile ).

Majority of the games only last 4-6 Turns. So I hardly ever get to 4 lands (18 in total) enough to cast 4 mana spells.

(Thrun, the Last Troll is a diffent story, He comes in when vs decks with Path to Exile )

What deck do you play?

July 9, 2014 1:46 a.m.

xephilios says... #5

i played this deck as well... with a similar sounding meta ( i read part of the comments above me ended up TL;DR
path to exile are AMAZING in this deck... i run 4 of bolt 4 of path as my only removal they just beat pillar if you're looking for the exile but as an instant, and the live gain is nice off helix.. but i find with this deck once you start taking enough dmg that the 3 live is relevant you're probably just going to lose... i ran 4 rancors.. that card is soo good and the god draw of first turn nacatl second turn play rancor and a goblin guide swing for 7 and say go happens alot more often also i never liked the idea of pridemage main board.. theres just more important stuff you wanna be doing turn 2 and l ater then that he's just not big enough..also you deck should run 2 more lands.... this deck doesnt need alot of lands to run but being stuck on one land even for a turn means you have one less threat out... and thats not good for this deck

my side board was... ( if i remember i currently have it set up as tribal flames)

2 Rest in Peace ( mostly only came in against living end.. but good against any grave yard based decks2 Ancient Grudge 3 Molten Rain game changing in control match up and slows down twin another turn which most of the time is enough on its on 1 Aven Mindcensor against pod2 Lightning Helix even tho i just said i didnt like it very much but its good against the mirror match or the games you're not going to be casting it till turn 3 or 4 any ways 1 Back to Nature because g/w hexproof pops up every once in a while in my metaand.... hmm... i cant seem to recall the rest

but seriously path answers any thing the current meta hands at you .. the ramp for them is not the best but path their chump and swing for 7 is not a bad trade also deals with splinter twin which is one of the only decks that can keep up with you

birthing pod is not the easiest but its favored in your name since you are running 4 of path and your scooze eats their finks all day

storm and scape shift are basically the same match up... if they stumble ONCE you just win....

jund.. is a little tougher too since it plays creatures bigger then youres.... just keep in mind kill bob and tarmo as fast as you can and they dont make much of a threat.. and maybe keep a ghor clan handy

k so i know im going all over the place a little bit in this comment... but im gonna go over your side board a little bit...spellskite is bad take it out... i tried it in my side board... its a 2 mana does nothing.... this deck never wants to cast it... the only thing its good for is a counter to splinter twin.... just put in removal it does its job better and worst case can be thrown at the facethrun is also bad this deck runs a ton of creatures if they want to waste their path on your one of 3 guys punish them with your ghor clan rampagerdestructive revelry isnt that good when you have two grudges... theres not really any enchantments this deck cares about... besides against the hexproof deck if youre worried about blood moon just fetch basics... and like i said before if hexproof is around back to nature is just better

i probably have alot more to say.. but this is good for now hope i was atleast a little bit helpful :)

July 11, 2014 6:35 a.m.

xephilios says... #6

TLDR; i think you're worrying to much about what the other deck is doing.... just path / bolt their guys and hit them with your nacatl to death... worked for me against a heavy melira pod / twin meta and path is your friend in both match ups

July 11, 2014 6:43 a.m.

Xuhle says... #7

xephilios Thanks for your imput, Im still in the play testing and in preparation mode. I probably have a soft spot for Pillar. Path is really good, i think you're right and i just need to play 4 main board and forget about it. Pillar of flame is also burn. I am probably valuing the fact that it just is that tiny bit of reach when i need it. It feels so good casting pillar on birds, and pillar on finks... Voice of resurgence... and pillar on electromancer, Dark confidant, noble highrach, red cap, steel overseer, vault skirge, melira, last point of damage against a Lilliana after -2. Delver of secrets (flip/unfliped). all with no down side... If all elese fails its 2 damage burn spell. It still seems to hit alot of important things... Path hits tarmogoyf and resto and collonade, wumrcoil engine. (cards that Im really worried about.)

The question is ... What is my plan?Which Spell is better Game 1 against an unknown deck? Path or Pillar?

Thrun the last troll - is in only to make use of path against UWR control (path snap path) But hes such a weapon no regrets playing him so far. Path is used in so many decks

Destructive Revelry - storm, boggles, affinity (you ever had a Chalice of the Void on one cast against you?) Its just another enchantment removal... I figure if i have it against storm and i never cast it ... well Im already winning..., if i have it against boggles and i dont cast it... im already winning... if i dont cast it against affinity im already winning.. it hits more then one deck and thats what i want in a side board card. Although i feel that Qasali Pridemage is probably doing this job for me. Thinking about it now i probably just need to move pride mage to the side and paths to the main.

Molten Rain yeah is cmc 3, against RG Tron its good yeah and against UWR its good, but i have played it and 18 lands isnt enough to cast 3cmc. Paths will help in the Tron match up alot, and i guess pillars are still amazing against Restoration angel and collanades.

July 13, 2014 8:13 p.m.

tchau204 says... #8

Everything looks okay tbh, there isn't much left to say that has already been said. Have you considered using any of: Burning-Tree Emissary (more explosive play), or Loam Lion ? I would still advocate the Path to Exile over the pillars though. Good luck!

July 16, 2014 5:52 p.m.

Xuhle says... #9

Thanks, I didn't want to play Loam Lion due to the fact that i have 6 lands that don't tap for white... thats a 3rd of my land base... If i had more fetches I might consider it. Green = 2 Lands don't tap/fetch for green, and only 4 Land don't tap/fetch for red.

I am honestly debating whether to play 4 Burning-Tree Emissary again. -2 Qasali Pridemage , -1 Scavenging Ooze , -2 Pillar of Flame , +4 Burning-Tree Emissary , +1 Rancor .

July 16, 2014 7:25 p.m.

tchau204 says... #10

Ah, good point, I didn't take into account your mana base. I definitely feel that since you don't have Tarmogoyfs, you need to do something a little more extreme to make up for it. Burning-Tree Emissary might be that something.

July 16, 2014 7:34 p.m.

tchau204 says... #11

Hey, I like how your list looks now. How are the games going?

July 20, 2014 7:27 p.m.

Xuhle says... #12

Great, although i really hate the simple Bolt - Snap - Bolt. That fact that splinter twin, UWR Control, UR Delver and Scape shift all have access to this just makes me sad.

July 20, 2014 8:13 p.m.

tchau204 says... #13

T__T that's why Tarmogoyf is $200 T__T

July 20, 2014 8:39 p.m.

tchau204 says... #14

I wonder if you should try to hedge a few of the matchups with 4x Loxodon Smiter mainboard. You would have to up your land count to 20, and remove your Flinthoof Boar . This way, you'll have something that survives bolts, survives Anger of the Gods , is uncounterable against blue (AND helps against Jund), while not sacrificing too much speed. What do you think? BTE can still power it out too.

July 20, 2014 9:34 p.m.

Xuhle says... #15

If i play Loxodon Smiter , I might as well go big zoo and play Knight of the Reliquary + Noble Hierarch and curve out at Thundermaw Hellkite . Flinthoof Boar has gotten alot of criticism. But hes just such a weapon, the haste is relevant. I used to play Vexing Devil in this list. But they weren't resilient enough. Boar is just a nice card. I cant cut him. You are right about the land though. i used to play 21 in a list like this, But since then i have cut the 4 drops, i think i just need to add in a few more, maybe another 2 fetch lands...

July 21, 2014 12:03 a.m.

chillistills says... #16

I highly recommend Strangleroot Geist he's great at eating all the extra removal from snapcaster and the haste is just awesome.

July 23, 2014 5:58 p.m.

chillistills says... #17

Also, just noticed you're playing rancor, he's amazing with rancor as he makes blocks really awkward due to the undying

July 23, 2014 6:01 p.m.

Xuhle says... #18

Seriously thinking about playing Strangleroot Geist over Scavenging Ooze in the main-board. But there are synergy issues with Burning-Tree Emissary maybe the fact that there are only 2 might help balance that.

Another good creature is Stormblood Berserker

July 23, 2014 6:32 p.m.
July 28, 2014 5:23 p.m.

Xuhle says... #20

Thanks, I didn't want to play Loam Lion due to the fact that i have 6 lands that don't tap for white... thats a 3rd of my land base... If I had more fetches I might consider it. Green = 2 Lands don't tap/fetch for green, and only 4 Land don't tap/fetch for red. Turn 1 I always want to fetch Stomping ground.

July 28, 2014 5:40 p.m.

To Help your matchup vs control make sure to use Boros Charm . I would also recommend fitting in Woolly Thoctar over Scavenging Ooze and maybe as I don't see a whole lot of ways for you to reliably fill the grave and that will give you some staying power vs. Anger of the Gods . If you are going to run 4 Rancor I would switch out Mutagenic Growth for 2 more lands that tap for white to maybe give you more reach and prevent mana screwing and once you do that maybe you can consider more creatures like Loam Lion that use a white mana base. Things like Lingering Souls and Spellskite are just things your going to have to accept to be against with that deck. Overall though i like your deck it is a nice change up from the meta and with a few tweaks i could see it doing well in FNM.

July 28, 2014 6:53 p.m.

also since you only have four white cards is it worth making this white. +1

July 29, 2014 7:39 a.m.

tchau204 says... #23

I really do agree that you should have at least one set of creatures which are safe against Lightning Bolt and Anger of the Gods . They'll probably go a long way for you.

July 29, 2014 12:32 p.m.

Xuhle says... #24

at least one set of creatures which are safe against Lightning Bolt ... your damn right! Jotun Grunt ? with a land base like 19 lands i cant really afford to play 3 CMC creatures with out hurting my Curve...

It normally goes T1 Wild Nacatl , or Experiment One , or Kird Ape , (rarely want to play Goblin Guide T1) Lands T1 I'm always fetching a Stomping Ground .T2 Goblin Guide and Rancor .. or just Burning-Tree Emissary into Flinthoof Boar , or a combination of both... Lands T2 I'm always fetching a Temple Garden (Rarely fetch up Sacred Foundry ).T3 another two drop and 1 drop or flint hoof boar with haste... some times i play games where i never see 3land... but i dont mind because it means I am just drawing really aggressive cards...

I play Mutagenic Growth in hopes to play it in response to Lightning bolts. It saves all my 2 and 3 toughness creatures.

July 29, 2014 6:36 p.m.

sergiodelrio says... #25


Soulswap Playtest

Modern sergiodelrio

SCORE: 9 | 8 COMMENTS | 1511 VIEWS

Maybe have a look at a matchup against an unusual deck?

I get a lot of surprize game-one wins with that. A little tricky to pilot though, sometimes it's not always clear what to do first.

You probably need a lot of artifact hate from your SB. Stony Silence makes me cry.

Give it a shot if you feel like it and tell me how it went :D

August 6, 2014 5:36 p.m.

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