The One Drop Zoo

Modern Aggro Bloodrush FNM Lands Netdeck Primer RGW (Naya) Trample Zoo

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Creature (26)

• 2x Ghor-Clan Rampager
• 4x Kird Ape
• 4x Loam Lion
• 2x Qasali Pridemage
• 4x Tarmogoyf
• 4x Vexing Devil
• 2x Wasteland Viper
• 4x Wild Nacatl

Land (18)

• 4x Arid Mesa
• 2x Forest
• 1x Mountain
• 1x Plains
• 2x Sacred Foundry
• 4x Stomping Ground
• 4x Temple Garden

Instant (8)

• 2x Boros Charm
• 4x Lightning Bolt
• 2x Vines of Vastwood

Enchantment (4)

• 4x Rancor

Artifact (2)

• 2x Mishra's Bauble

Sorcery (2)

• 2x Reckless Charge

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Sideboard

Instant (8)

• 2x Destructive Revelry
• 4x Lightning Helix
• 2x Path to Exile

Artifact (5)

• 3x Engineered Explosives
• 2x Grafdigger's Cage

Enchantment (2)

• 2x Stony Silence

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{1} Drop Zoo

This primer is dedicated to being a functional introduction to "{1} Drop Zoo" A.K.A. "Small Zoo" outlining how the deck functions, its strengths and weakness and card choices.

Deck Details Show

What is {1} Drop/Small Zoo?

The Deck gets its namesake for its focus on 1-2 MV/CMC creatures and spells with efficient stats and effects to beatdown and overwhelm the opponent before they can stabilize. Unlike other Zoo builds this is a hyper aggressive playstyle that is streamlined for speed over sustainability or long term play.

Aggro:

The archetype of Zoo is always at its core an Aggro/Agressive strategy; aiming to inflict lethal damage to the opponent with low cost creatures and spells in the early turns of the game before the opponent can respond/play Magic in a meaningful way. All creatures and almost all spells in this deck are proactive cards and work towards putting the opponents life total to zero.

• "In what way can I use my cards to inflict the most damage on my opponent."

Colors:

• {R}: Gives access to Haste for our creatures to give more speed to the deck and Burn spells to act as removal or inflict direct damage to the opponent.

• {G}: Gives access to Trample for our creatures and pump spells to climb and beat over the opponents creatures.

• {W}: Gives access to Double Strike for our creatures for inflicting big damage as well as access to protection and removal.

Card Choices:

This decklist is meant to be a GUIDLINE for constructing a {1} Drop Zoo list.

• Wild Nacatl/Loam Lion/Kird Ape: Creatures that are consistent and aggressively costed. paying {1} Mana for a 2/3 or 3/3 creature is essentially the gold standard for making the cut as a viable creature option.

• Ghor-Clan Rampager/Wasteland Viper/Vexing Devil: Flexible creatures with effects to further the aggro strategy.

• Dryad Militant/Judge's Familiar/Qasali Pridemage/Thalia, Guardian of Thraben: In a vacuum these creatures can simply attack and work towards reducing the opponents life total to zero; however they have static/activated abilities that can hinder the opponent.

• Rancor/Reckless Charge: Pump spells with recursion for more value.

• Boros Charm/Lightning Bolt/Path to Exile/Vines of Vastwood: Utility spells that help clear a path for our creatures, provide protection or inflict direct damage to the opponent.

Honorable Mentions and Meta Calls

These are some Meta dependent and personal preference tech choices to incorporate into the strategy. Here is a courtesy link to MTG Top8 for further inspiration.

Creatures:

{1}

• Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer: Currently too rich for my blood but certainly an excellent value inclusion. I would probably split this card with Vexing Devil.
• Goblin Bushwhacker: Excellent for fast damage and boosting a team; consider Reckless Bushwhacker as well.
• Narnam Renegade: Arguably better that Kird Ape/Loam Lion because deathtouch; which is great for taking down high toughness blockers. works great with fetch lands!
• Bomat Courier: Good at attacking and could possibly fill up your hand.
• Voldaren Epicure: ETB Damage and has a nice loot effect.
• Hex Parasite: Can be handy if expecting to see Chalice of the Void.
• Dragon's Rage Channeler: great value potential. consider Seal of Fire and Mishra's Bauble when using this.
• Goblin Guide: Classic 2/2 haste beater.
• Steppe Lynx: Can become situationally obnoxious. Ftech lands go Brrrr
• Experiment One: Worth considering in a heavy removal environment.
• Scythe Tiger: Worth considering in a heavy removal environment.

{2}

• Quirion Beastcaller: Another Pelt Collector type of card.
• Targ Nar, Demon-Fang Gnoll: Nice pump spell synergy.
• Gallia of the Endless Dance: Aggro Card draw!? Neat!
• Flinthoof Boar: Easy 3/3 for 2MV/CMC with a Haste option.
• Fleecemane Lion: Easy 3/3 for 2MV/CMC with an interesting Mana Dump ability.

Burn/Pump Spells:

• Might of Old Krosa: Nice boost and very efficient.
• Blossoming Defense: Another pump and protection option.
• Mutagenic Growth: Nice boost that can be paid with life for excellent mana efficiency.
• Colossal Might: additional Ghor-Clan Rampager effect that can be used on the opponents turn.
• Revenge of the Hunted: Lol Miracles.
• Atarka's Command: All around awesome.
• Lightning Helix: lifegain attached to Lightning Bolt can be handy.
• Shard Volley: Almost another Lightning Bolt; possible synergy with Wrenn and Six and Landfall Zoo.
• Grim Lavamancer: burn with a body.

Neat tech:

• Winding Way: Seems like a good option for a Midrange Meta.
• Evolution Charm: I like this card but its slow.
• Wispmare: enchantment removal with a body.
• Ingot Chewer: artifact removal with a body.
• Faerie Macabre: graveyard hate.
• Aether Vial: another means to put creatures in play.

Lands:

• Prismatic Vista/Windswept Heath/Wooded Foothills: More fetches that work great with Revolt
• Horizon Canopy/Sunbaked Canyon: Color fixing and draw... nice!
• Ghost Quarter: blow up Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
• Jetmir's Garden: Really helps with Domain mechanics but enters the battlefield tapped.
• Treetop Village/Dryad Arbor: Man lands are Slow but can help against board wipes and sweepers.

Hatebears:

• Ash Zealot
• Collector Ouphe
• Eidolon of the Great Revel
• Hushbringer
• Leonin Arbiter
• Spirit of the Labyrinth
• Kataki, War's Wage

Strengths & Weaknesses:

• Aggro at it's finest; the deck overall is fast and consistent enough to close out games before opponents can turn a corner. The high volume of efficient creatures can overwhelm opponents relying on a few single target removal spells and things like Vines of Vastwood/Boros Charm act as protection from removal or just outright win the game with Pump/Double Strike or direct damage. Pump spells and trample often times are enough to beat over the opponents early blockers; unlike Burn/RDW decks our creatures provide impactful board presence and enable sustained damage.

• High toughness blockers like Wall of Omens can be annoying to run over. Ensnaring Bridge can make attacking impossible. Chalice of the Void can completely turn off the deck. Board wipes like Supreme Verdict and Sweepers like Anger of the Gods and be devastating.

Matchups:

• Vs. Control

Are they playing sweepers/board wipes? If the answer is yes then its best to stay conservative and not play out your hand more than you need to keep the pressure on. If the Control player is relying more on single target countermagic bounce/kill spells then keep casting creatures and attacking and hold onto the burn spells for targeting the opponent... they cant Counterspell/Fatal Push everything.... right?

• Vs. Combo

All out assault. The faster you can deal lethal damage the better; because its just a race in this matchup.

• Vs. Aggro

This is also a race however this race is won with card advantage. Try to win as many 2 for 1 trades as possible and you should come out on top. This is where things like Rancor and Reckless Charge will shine brightest!

There is a lot to do with Zoo Show

All Things Zoo:

There is something for everyone! Zoo is a deck that comes in a lot of varieties to better fit different Metas and desired playstyles.

• The Main Variation: Classic Zoo playing the best creatures with the best burn and most relevant meta "answering cards.

• Big Zoo: Ramp into bigger threats using Noble Hierarch/Birds of Paradise to get into things like Ajani Vengeant or a monstrous Fleecemane Lion.

• Domain/Tribal Zoo: Access all 5 colors playing efficient creatures like Territorial Kavu and inflict big burn damage with Tribal Flames.

• Gruul Zoo: More creature focused. Use Hidden Herbalists/Burning-Tree Emissary to get into lots of great creatures.

• Landfall/Scapeshift Zoo: Exploit things like Steppe Lynx, Wrenn and Six and Scapeshift.

• Dark/Suicide Zoo: Access more of {B} for things like Thoughtseize, Dark Confidant and Death's Shadow.

• Counter Cat/Aquarium/Blue Zoo: Access more {U} for things like Remand, Spell Snare and Delver of Secrets  .

Community:

If anything you see here caught your interest check out the SUPER Primer on MTG Salvation. It is a primer that is more broad and can give more information about other Zoo variants. MTG Salvation Zoo Video Primer

• https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/established-modern/aggro-tempo/565682-zoo-video-primer

There is also an active community available on Discord:Join link

• https://discord.gg/9xJqwpN

Here are some YouTube Channels that feature a lot of Zoo content

• BlackbeltMTG

• Fack_Fayden07

Top Ranked	Achieved #10 position overall 4 years ago Achieved #5 position in Modern 4 years ago Achieved #1 position in Modern FNM 3 years ago Achieved #1 position in Modern Haste 4 years ago
Date added	4 years
Last updated	2 years
Exclude colors	UB
Legality	This deck is Modern legal.
Rarity (main - side)	4 - 0 Mythic Rares 18 - 7 Rares 20 - 8 Uncommons 14 - 0 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	1.29
Folders	Modern, I like this deck, funny decks, decks, One Drop Zoon, Modern