Testing at First Pick with Peter, Joe, and Zaiem plus some help from Dwayne, Chris Lawson, and Charles Wong when they were not drafting, I decided to try the Blue Zoo deck. Here's what I tried:
22 aforementioned lands
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Kird Ape
2 Figure of Destiny
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Tribal Flames
4 Lightning Helix
3 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Bant Charm
2 Flame Jab
Sideboard:
3 Proclamation of Rebirth
3 Duergar Hedge-Mage
3 Kataki, War's Wage
3 Stifle
3 Gaddock Teeg
I thought about sideboarding on the bus to First Pick, and I identified the decks where you are the beatdown and where you are not, and sideboarded accordingly. I.e. if you are the beatdown, avoid taking out one-drops. Mogg Fanatic can still be good for 2-3 damage on turn 1. Adding Proclamation in those matchups makes it okay (those are generally the matchups where they have Wrath effects.)
So I'll try to run-down what I played against:
A couple against Dwayne playing Zoo - Played only a couple preboard and I drew excellently. Sideboard is where I get an edge because their Hedge-Mages are really bad. I can bring in Hedge-Mages, one or two Procs, and the Stifles. I have not tested this matchup thoroughly enough at all.
A set against Pete playing Faeries - Yuck, I have no idea where the edges are in this matchup at all. I got wiped 0-2 preboard, but we split 5-5 postboard. Combine this with a set we played before where I think I was up, and you have a pretty even matchup. The Stifles come in and shouldn't hit lands generally, only Engineered Explosives or counters. Proc is pretty saucy too. Teeg's a little worse against just Explosives, but I guess you have to fight Chalice. Bant Charm is great. Shackles is Bad News Bears for us. Couldn't tell you how to beat this deck. Just draw well. Flame Jab is not as good as I thought it would be in this matchup.
A set of preboard of Chris playing GB Loam - I tested this last night and got beaten pretty badly 0-2 pre then 3-5 post. I think this actually came out even, and the Flame Jabs were actually great against Tribe-Elders and then sitting there waiting to do more damage. I need to play around Death Cloud better. This is still a poor matchup, especially losing Jund Charm. Kitchen Finks is surprisingly good as they have to two for one to get rid of it, whereas you can trump their Finks with Bant Charm.
A few against Charles playing Mono Burn - About the same as I thought. Two Nacatls will win you the game. Otherwise, don't take damage from lands and just look to soak up damage. Bant Charm saves you from Magma Jets that set them up and Shrapnel Blasts for the win, but doesn't save you from Sulfuric Vortex like Oblivion Ring does. Maindeck Finks are really good too.
A few preboard against Charles playing Affinity - I think I won once. Bant Charm helps, but still slow. This matchup is still atrocious.
Those are my thoughts. I will probably play this deck, but GB is a back pocket deck if I chicken out still.
MTG: My Murders at Karlov Manor Set Recap
2 weeks ago
6 comments:
The exact numbers from my notes:
Me (Blue Zoo) vs. Dwayne (Zoo): 2-0 pre.
Me (Blue Zoo) vs. Peter (Faeries): 1-3 pre, 5-5 post.
Me (Blue Zoo) vs. Chris (GB Loam): 4-4 pre.
Me (Blue Zoo) vs. Charles W. (Affinity): 1-2 pre.
Me (Blue Zoo) vs. Charles (Mono Red Burn): 2-3 pre.
What about Putrefy instead of Bant Charm, going back to black?
I think I want to be playing Stifles, and if I'm running Blue, then I'd rather run Bant Charm because it randomly counters burn and Thirst for Knowledge.
"Cactus Aggro"? You've gotta be joking. This deck definitely looks like it could betray you.
That aside, I don't know why you would play this at the GP. Not to be offensive, but the numbers aren't exciting at all. It's too easy in Magic to get caught up in playing something original or different. As Dan Hanson would say, "winning isn't about proving that you're smarter than the other guy." I definitely don't recommend zoo for this event, but I think you have other options available to you in the beatdown vein. What about affinity?
See you in LA!
Gavin
Catch me on Facebook tonight, we should talk.
Alex and I were talking about your GP situation...with 3 byes, you should figure that you're going to be playing against not much Burn and Zoo, and more Faeries than usual. You should pick a deck that beats Faeries, which would most likely be Affinity. Granted, that was our reasoning before Mono-white was a "real deck," but Affinity is probably still worth considering.
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