Discussion Forum

I like the idea of maybe adding in goblin guide instead of the fireslinger for now, but I don't know if it's worth the addition with the inevitable rotation.

Steppe Lynx is another zendikar creature I'm definitely considering, maybe in place of elite vanguard for now, maybe not. With fetch lands the possibility of swinging for 4 on turn 2 is just awesome though.

I like goblin wardriver but I don't know if double red is plausible or not. Same with Garruk's Companion for double green. And Mirran Crusader for double white.

There are a few mediocre burn spells I'm considering. Lightning Bolt for sure right now, then either arc trail, shock, burst lightning. Maybe adding in some buffs like giant growth or mutagenic, both for the sake of sneaking in more damage and for more spells to sac to grim lavamancer.
Furnace Scamp may actually be a viable replacement for one of them since it's basically like a delayed burnspell.

Immolating Soul Eater is possible because it's any mana and the firebreathing would be decent I think.

I was considering Melira, a 2/2 for 1G is ok, but it's the fact that infect is all around makes her considerable, probably just going to be a sideboard.

I'm unsure if I want to keep Birds of paradise because although it's nice mana fix, I don't really need to accelerate into much playing zoo.

I wanted to try and throw in contested warzone for extra battlecry effects, but I'm already down to running barely any basic lands.

I haven't tried to build a deck like this in a long time so it's just a lot to consider. Once again, any ideas/suggestions are warmly welcomed.

Here's a newer list. I like where it's going.

Quite honestly I don't see the need for green in the deck. With green you're only getting Birds and the shifter. I think birds actually slows this deck down, and while the shifter is good, I don't think having a 3 color deck justifies it. I think you're much better off just sticking to RW.

I feel like if I made a boros deck it would just end up a lot different though, Garruks companion is really the only zoo-esque green creature worth throwing in a think though, maybe some of the strength enhancing spells.

- skinshifter is not by far a worthy goyf replacement, it's just to easy to kill as it will always be just a 1/1 when it matters.

- Mirran Crusader becomes legacy worthy once he's equipped. A Sword or a Jitte and he goes insane. I think the same will apply in standard, he needs equipment to shine.

- I'm a big Grim Lavamancer fan, always have been. It's a powerhouse. I'm not up to date enough on standard to guess how strong black is right now but I did notice them reprinting smallpox making me think Grim Lavamancer/Smallpox might be the core of a worthy RB list (that's 8 legacy worthy cards there already). Isn't that something to concider instead of Zoo?

I'm thinking so. I just got kinda overhyped on the idea. I'm a big zoo fan and wanted to try and revive it for standard again, but alas, not yes. Black/red control was actually something i was considering because I've been messing with some black/blue.
The only thing I really think is that a properly played skinshifter is still pretty decent and maybe worth seeing in constructed, although that may not be zoo-able.

[QUOTE=Seth]-
- I'm a big Grim Lavamancer fan, always have been. It's a powerhouse. I'm not up to date enough on standard to guess how strong black is right now but I did notice them reprinting smallpox making me think Grim Lavamancer/Smallpox might be the core of a worthy RB list (that's 8 legacy worthy cards there already). Isn't that something to concider instead of Zoo?[/QUOTE]


I mighta just misunderstood, but where's the 8? Are you talking about mirran and swords together?

I meant 4xGrim + 4xPox = 8

That and from what I see of the standard Top 8's both mono Black and mono Red seem to be doing very well. post M12 I would investigate the strength of a Red Black deck. Not that I want to sidetrack your zoo post. If you say Zoo is the way to go then you should persue that. As I said, my standard days are behind me and I'm not up to date on the formats meta.

I'm not the greatest standard although I've been wanting to get back into it. Zoo hasn't been around for awhile, but I thought maybe with some new cards, maybe in the next couple of releases it might come back! I can only hope.
I kinda threw together a black red deck, I'm not sure how to get around smallpox since I haven't really played a lot with it, I'll post something with it a little later.

Actually suggesting smallpox might have been a bad call on my part. I've always been a fan of the card but it's very meta dependant. Legacy decks are prone to it as they are often mana greedy and in combination with wasteland, life from the loam or crucible, sinkhole, vindicate, stifle etc.. you have a whole bag of land hate at your disposal. Standard decks usually run far more land or are less dependant on duals and as such smallpox might not matter all that much.
It's also only good early on, midgame it's just bad and usually you don't want it killing your own dudes.

I'll study your zoo build some more when I get home. See what I can come up with.

I might just turn this into a GW aggro deck