I've been tinkering with this deck for a few months now in anticipation of giving it a real test in a competitive environment. This past Saturday I got the chance when I took it to a RCQ and managed to place first. I want to give a few caveats first before I get into the deck description.
- The RCQ was not a big RCQ and it did not have the two biggest bads of the format, Rakdos and Mono-G Devotion
- I did play against other competitive decks such as Azorius Control, Boros Convoke, Archfiend Alteration, Enigmatic Incarnation, etc.
- I have been playing this deck (sans Boros Charm and Atarka's command) on Arena against Rakdos and Mono-G Devotion since those decks are just as prevalent there.
I will attempt to explain everything about the deck as best as possible. I have concluded I need to make some small changes to card picks before the Regional Championship in Atlanta. This is my first time ever going to something like this and I am incredibly excited for the opportunity.
So first off, the tier 1 matchups:
Deck vs Rakdos: Basically I bring in the roasts and play a game of racing for damage. Roasts are to deal with Sheoldred. Everything else in the deck is reasonably within reach of the regular burn spells. It's a hard matchup overall but often it feels like it can come down to a coin flip because unlike Mono-G devotion, Rakdos doeesn't get above 5 toughness.
Deck vs Mono-G Devotion: Bring in roasts, burning hands, and Kari Zev's. The bigger burn spells help deal with the bigger creatures (though cavalier is a consistent issue due to 6 toughness). However Kari's Zev's acts ass a cheeky booard swing being able to take their biggest guy and swing in with him as well as being able to drop another 2 cost spell whether its to remove another big creature or drop a fast swinger. The big thing is to remove creatures quickly as they hit the field when possible. Tajic helps boost your creatures making most green creatures within lighting strike range even if it's a bad 2 for 1 exchange. You can bring in Alpine moon to hit the Nykthos but that's a risky choice as Mono-G can work around not having Nykthos.
Deck vs Azorius Control: This is a fairly easy matchup. You can bring in cindervines but ultimately it's unnecessary (Cindervines will be replaced with instant speed artifact/enchantment removal). But this is an aggro deck that dabbles in midrange capabilities. You're generally faster and since all your creatures have haste being able to draw, drop, and attack in the same turn keeping control on the backfoot.
Deck vs Sackdos: This is an okay matchup. Better than Rakdos Midrange, worse than Azorius control. Played against it consistently on Arena. Gameplan is to just remove the problem cards Familiar, Cauldron, and Devil. Continue the strategy of turning cards sideways and keeping them on the backfoot. Getting Fleetfoot is a game changer and can really make their strategy feel hopeless.
Deck vs Mono-W Humans: Another hard matchup like G Devotion. They race like you but their creatures get stronger as thy do. Removing cards as they hit means a lot. Don't be afraid to keep burn heavy hands. Don't be afraid to bring in a couple roasts to deal with Adeline as she is the biggest problem card in the entire deck. The rest of your burn plays well with the rest of the decck.
Deck vs Abzan Greasefang: Side in Artifact removal and just keep Greasefang off the field. Yes they can recur but it's more of a combo deck than midrange. As long as those stay dead you will be fine. Chariot is a pain but even killing one cat keeps that off. If parhelion hits it's an uphill battle but not necessarily a losing one.
The Deck
The deck is pretty straightforward. It uses the advantage of haste creatures to keep opponents on the backfoot. The creatures all do something useful beyond just having haste.
Creatures
Kumano vs Kakkazan - deals damage, exiles problem creatures, boosts your own creatures
Phoenix Chick - Has evasion, can be recurred, quick early damage that often goes unchecked
Earthshaker Khenra - Keeps early creatures from block, can be recurred late game
Robber of the Rich - Pulls cards your opponents deck making them mis land drops, giving you more options, or just robbing them of essential pieces
Samut, Vizier of Naktamun - can attack and still block, has first strike, good draw engine
Tajic, Legion's Edge - Can be given first strike, boosts your 2/x creatures into 3/x creatures. Incredibly relevant in the format.
Fleetfoot Dancer - Has trample, and gives 8 point life total swings most games, hard to remove with 4 toughness and 4 mana cost
Non-creatures
Boros Charm - Good first game sweeper protection, 4 damage to the face is relevant for closing out games, double strike can be useful on a card like Fleet foot or Tajic
Atarka's Command - Looking to probably replace, feels dead in many games
Lightning Strike - obvious reason is obvious
Play with Fire - Again obvious reason is obvious
Lands
Only land to note is Boseiju and he's there for MANY reasons which seem obvious. Otherwise the land base is balanced.
Sideboard
I am just going to label the decks the card will be most likely sided to fight against
Alpine Moon - Looking to replace
Burning Hands - Mono-G Devotion (seriously the deck is that problematic)
Cindervines - Greasefang, Enigmatic Incarnation, Azorius Control, Sackdos, other enchantment/artifact heavy based strategies
Fry - Spirits (Mono, Azorius, and Bant), Control (Azorius and Dimir), Phoenix
Kari Zev's Expertise - Mono-G Devotion, Enigmatic Incarnation, Archfiend Alteration
Rampaging Ferocidon - Boros Convoke, Mono-W Humans, Elf's, Angels
Roast - Mono-G Devotion, Rakdos Midrange, Pheonix, any deck with big butts
So that's the deck. Overall it has performed exceptionally in the months I have been testing both online and on paper. As long as Regional Championship Atlanta is Pioneer then I will be bringing this deck with me (also as long as the format doesn't suddenly do a massive shift in what decks are being played).
It's awesome to win a RCQ and get to go to Atlanta. I hope I do well and if I don't it's definitely an experience I'm sure I won't forget. Feel free to drop questions, comments, etc. Thanks for taking a look.
PS: The name Zookeepers. After making this deck (with help from my best friend Don) we noticed that it followed a similar strategy to the Naya Zoo strategy. However there were no animals in the deck like in Zoo. So since they were all humanoids it seemed appropriate to call the deck Naya Zookeepers.
