Surrak's Zany Zoo

Commander / EDH RUG (Temur)

Tuxed0mask

Land (29)

• 1x Ancient Ziggurat
• 1x Ash Barrens
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Cinder Glade
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 4x Forest
• 3x Island
• 2x Mountain
• 1x Mountain Valley
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Rejuvenating Springs
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Rootbound Crag
• 1x Sheltered Thicket
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x Stomping Ground
• 1x Sulfur Falls
• 1x Temple of Abandon
• 1x Temple of Epiphany
• 1x Temple of Mystery
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse

Other (6)

• 1x Boseiju, Who Endures
• 1x Breaching Hippocamp
• 1x Exocrine
• 1x Hydroid Krasis
• 1x Minamo, School at Water's Edge
• 1x Sporocyst

Removal (5)

• 1x Bane of Progress
• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Kogla, the Titan Ape
• 1x Profaner of the Dead
• 1x Reclamation Sage

Stax (3)

• 1x Collector Ouphe
• 1x Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
• 1x Vorinclex, Voice of HungerGC

Utility (14)

• 1x Alchemist's Refuge
• 1x Anger
• 1x Elvish Piper
• 1x Flamekin Village
• 1x Hanweir Battlements  ^{Flip  Meld}
• 1x Kessig Wolf Run
• 1x Radha, Heart of Keld
• 1x Seedborn Muse
• 1x Strip Mine
• 1x Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
• 1x Vivien, Champion of the Wilds
• 1x Winding Canyons
• 1x Wonder
• 1x Xenagos, the Reveler

Protection (8)

• 1x Archetype of Endurance
• 1x Frilled Mystic
• 1x Glen Elendra Archmage
• 1x Mystic Snake
• 1x Siren Stormtamer
• 1x Stratus Dancer
• 1x Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
• 1x Willbender

Ramp (8)

• 1x Beanstalk Giant
• 1x Beastcaller Savant
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Dawntreader Elk
• 1x Nikya of the Old Ways
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
• 1x Wood Elves

Recursion (3)

• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Feldon of the Third Path
• 1x Genesis

Commander (1)

Combo (13)

• 1x Bogardan Dragonheart
• 1x Dark-Dweller Oracle
• 1x Deceiver Exarch
• 1x Incubation Druid
• 1x Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
• 1x Protean Hulk
• 1x Purphoros, God of the Forge
• 1x Rattleclaw Mystic
• 1x Spikeshot Elder
• 1x Torch Courier
• 1x Vigean Graftmage
• 1x Yedora, Grave Gardener
• 1x Zealous Conscripts

Card draw (5)

• 1x Beast Whisperer
• 1x Garruk's Packleader
• 1x Primordial Sage
• 1x Soul of the Harvest
• 1x Tatyova, Benthic Druid

Tutor (5)

• 1x Fauna Shaman
• 1x Imperial Recruiter
• 1x Momir Vig, Simic Visionary
• 1x Prime Speaker Vannifar
• 1x Yisan, the Wanderer Bard

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Sideboard

Other (22)

• 1x Bloodfire Colossus
• 1x Crater Hellion
• 1x Fertilid
• 1x Fierce Empath
• 1x Forgotten Cave
• 1x Frontier Bivouac
• 1x Gruul Turf
• 1x Hinterland Harbor
• 1x Izzet Boilerworks
• 1x Jiwari, the Earth Aflame
• 1x Ketria Triome
• 1x Lonely Sandbar
• 1x Nimble Obstructionist
• 1x Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded
• 1x Ryusei, the Falling Star
• 1x Shigeki, Jukai Visionary
• 1x Simic Growth Chamber
• 1x Skarrg, the Rage Pits
• 1x Spire Garden
• 1x Tranquil Thicket
• 1x Yavimaya Dryad
• 1x Yeva, Nature's Herald

Ramp (1)

• 1x Farhaven Elf

Removal (1)

• 1x Starstorm

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Maybeboard

Other (28)

• 1x Archetype of Imagination
• 1x Blasphemous Act
• 1x Body Double
• 1x Coercive Recruiter
• 1x Draining Whelk
• 1x Flowstone Slide
• 1x Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma
• 1x Gruul Ragebeast
• 1x Gyre Sage
• 1x Hydra Omnivore
• 1x Hyrax Tower Scout
• 1x Kheru Spellsnatcher
• 1x Kumano, Master Yamabushi
• 1x Maelstrom Wanderer
• 1x Molder Slug
• 1x Pestermite
• 1x Phantasmal Image
• 1x Ravenous Slime
• 1x Riftsweeper
• 1x Scavenging Ooze
• 1x Skyshroud Poacher
• 1x Springbloom Druid
• 1x Thorn Mammoth
• 1x Timeless Witness
• 1x Venser, Shaper Savant
• 1x Viridian Emissary
• 1x Woodland Bellower
• 1x Zhur-Taa Druid

Removal (2)

• 1x Gemrazer
• 1x Krosan Grip

Ramp (1)

• 1x Migratory Greathorn

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Disclaimer

This decklist reflects the deck that I have currently build in paper.
It's by no means optimized, so there is lots of room for improvement in terms of efficiency and reliability - or simply personal preference.
For my taste, the deck plays great. But if you happen to have, for example, some Fetchlands lying around, feel free to slot them in.

Summary

About this deck

Surrak's Zany Zoo is a meme deck that is built to meet the challenge of exclusively playing creatures.
This obviously has some downsides, but also allows for some cheeky strategies.
The build makes uses of Stax/Tax and value pieces that affect noncreature spells, whithout getting punished itself.
Also, once Surrak hits the Battlefield, counterspells are no longer of any concern, which is nice.
The Deck wins by assembling one of several combos, or simply overrunning enemies with some big boys.

Combos TL;DR

Infinite hasty tokens

• Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker + Deceiver Exarch
• Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker + Zealous Conscripts

Overrun with hasty tokens or ping enemies with Purphoros, God of the Forge

Infinite Mana

• Incubation Druid + Vigean Graftmage
• Rattleclaw Mystic + Yedora, Grave Gardener

Ping enemies with Spikeshot Elder or play the entire deck with Dark-Dweller Oracle

Strategy

Early Game: Ramp

As with any Commander deck, the first couple of turns are mostly spent ramping.
Since mana rocks aren't creatures, this build uses mana dorks and creatures that tutor lands onto the battlefield.
Fortunately, green offers plenty of options in that regard. (Plus, ramping with lands rather than rocks is safer in the long run anyways.)

Note: Due to the high mana curve, consistent early ramp is very important.
Any starting hand should consist of at least one ramp piece and the lands to play it.
Also, it's completely fair game to spend a tutor (e.g. Imperial Recruiter) to ensure ramping (or card draw).

Mid Game: Assemble

Once the Mana Base is established, focus switches to assembling the key pieces for the winning Combo.
This deck offers several ways to draw cards or tutor for them.
Tutoring is more efficient, but raises more attention. Especially since the tutored cards are revealed, which provides crucial information to opponents.
Drawing cards makes concealing the progress of any game plan easier, but also is less efficient for assembling key pieces.
Either way, there are few cases where doing as much as possible of both would be a downside.

In addition to collecting combo pieces, some protection should be prepared.
Of course, anything that accelerates the game plan and/or slows down opponents is always useful.

Note:
The deck has a tough time to recover game pieces once they are in the graveyard or even exile.
Thus, counterspells should be held back for situations that severely threaten the current gameplan. (e.g. to save a key piece from getting exiled)

Late Game: Go Off

Once all important pieces are ready to go, taking the win is merely a matter of timing.
As with any combo, the ideal moment arises when opponents are least likely to find a way to interact with and/or stop it.
The decklist provides numerous ways for creatures to be played with flash, so holding up interaction through opponent's turns has little downside.
More importantly though, it allows for creatures to be cast at the best possible moment.

Notes:

• Threatening and/or annoying creatures (e.g. Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger or Seedborn Muse) are great to test for opponent's removal options and provide great value if they stick
• Archetype of Endurance or Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir make it almost impossible for opponents to interfere with the combo

Combos explained

Line A: Kiki-Jiki infinite hasty tokens

Prerequisites

• Special ability combo enabler: Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
• Untap Synergy: Deceiver Exarch or Zealous Conscripts

Execution

With Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and Deceiver Exarch (or any other viable combo creature) on the Battlefield:

1. Use Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker's ability targeting Deceiver Exarch
2. When the Token Copy of Deceiver Exarch enters, use its ETB trigger to untap Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
3. Repeat

This loop results in an infinite amount of Deceiver Exarch Tokens with Haste which can then be used to overrun opponents.
If combat damage is not an option, the combo can be expanded by adding Purphoros, God of the Forge which will then deal direct damage whenever a Deceiver Exarch token enters the Battlefield.

Line B: Protean Hulk into infinite Damage

Prerequisites

• Tutor: Protean Hulk
• Sac outlet: Bogardan Dragonheart or Dark-Dweller Oracle
• Haste provider: Torch Courier, Flamekin Village or Hanweir Battlements   or Anger in the graveyard

Execution

1. Use sac outlet to destroy Protean Hulk to activate its trigger
2. With Protean Hulk's ability, find Incubation Druid, Vigean Graftmage and Spikeshot Elder and put them onto the battlefield
3. As they enter, use the Graft trigger to move one +1/+1 counter from Vigean Graftmage onto Incubation Druid
4. Give Incubation Druid haste
5. Tap Incubation Druid for 3 of any color
6. Untap Incubation Druid through Vigean Graftmage
7. Repeat 5 - 6

By tapping Incubation Druid for 3 of any one color and spending to untap it again, this loop effectively nets 1 of any color.
Repeat infinite times to generate infinite Mana, then use infinite mana to ping opponents with Spikeshot Elder.

Line C: Infinite Mana + Play the entire Deck

Prerequisites

• Special trigger combo enabler: Yedora, Grave Gardener
• Synergizing mana dork: Rattleclaw Mystic
• Sac outlet: Bogardan Dragonheart or Dark-Dweller Oracle

Execution

With Yedora, Grave Gardener, Rattleclaw Mystic and Bogardan Dragonheart on the Battlefield

1. Sacrifice Rattleclaw Mystic through Bogardan Dragonheart's ability. It returns to the Battlefield as a Forest.
2. Tap the Forest to add to your Mana Pool
3. Activate Rattleclaw Mystic's Morph ability to turn it face up again, adding to your Mana Pool
4. Repeat

This loop uses for the Morph cost, while adding .
Since all Mana required is generic, this results in an infinite amount of any color Mana.

When using Dark-Dweller Oracle instead of Bogardan Dragonheart, each cycle will net 1 Mana of any color instead of 2.
However, Dark-Dweller Oracle's ability will also exile the entire deck which can then be played this turn.
Obviously, an empty library is quite dangerous, so I suggest to stop this particular loop with a couple of cards left in the library.
In most cases, the amount of Cards and Mana available at that point should provide a swift way to end the game.

Note:
I was made aware of this cheeky combo by the Spike Feeders.
Check out their video explaining it in detail on ▶ YouTube

Build Variations

In my experience, no deck is ever truly done.
Aside from new flashy cards being released every other week, preferences and playstyles change and decks need to adjust.
Personally, I like to swap out a couple of cards every few weeks or so, just to mix things up a bit.
This decklist is by no means optimized, so if you find a card or combo that you would like to see in this deck, it will fit.
Take a look at the Side-Board and Maybe-Board to see some options I consider and let me know about your adaptations in the comments.

Budget Options

Fortunately, all combo pieces are within a fairly budget-ish range (with Kiki-Jiki currently being the most expensive at around 10$) and everything else can easily be replaced.

Lands

• Prismatic Vista -> Fabled Passage or even Terramorphic Expanse
• Kessig Wolf Run -> Skarrg, the Rage Pits
• Strip Mine -> Ghost Quarter

Utility Cards

• Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre -> Gaea's Blessing
• Imperial Recruiter -> Fierce Empath
• Purphoros, God of the Forge -> Reckless Fireweaver (requires to also replace Deceiver Exarch with Corridor Monitor as untapping piece though)

Redundancy

As Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker combos with almost anything, there are several creatures that can be swapped or added for reliability or even alternative combo lines.
Here are a few:

• Deceiver Exarch: Pestermite or Hyrax Tower Scout
• Zealous Conscripts: Coercive Recruiter

Unfortunately, there is no functional substitute for Kiki-Jiki itself - at least none that fits this deck's restrictions.
Splinter Twin does effectively the same thing as Kiki-Jiki in the combo loop. Unfortunately it's an Enchantment, which is why I don't run it.
However, since no one could be blamed for mistaking it as a creature when guessing by its name, the jury might be inclined to let it slide if you choose to include it.


That's all.
Enjoy playing the deck.
Feel free to leave some feedback, questions and suggestions in the comments.

Date added	4 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	12 - 1 Mythic Rares 52 - 10 Rares 17 - 7 Uncommons 10 - 6 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.86
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Copy Clone, Eldrazi Horror 3/2 C, Morph 2/2 C, On an Adventure, Satyr 2/2 GR
Folders	[ P ] Paper EDH Arsenal
Based on	[WIP] Surrak's Zany Zoo Tuxed0mask EDH