Legacy

Ancestral Memories: The Dance Of Angry Feet

Author’s Note: This article should have been up last week but there was some editing issues and I was on vacation.  Sorry about that and I hope my references aren’t too dated.  Enjoy!

You hear that?  It’s the sound of complacency setting into Legacy.  In Orlando, the top 16 included 6 Merfolk, 3 Team America and Gerry T & Drew Levin, now not to knock Landstill, but those two could win with a bucket of feathers.  Don’t get me wrong those are all fine decks but they are also slower decks made to prey on control decks.  So what can you do about this?  It’s time to get mad!  That sound you are hearing is the sound of angry feet; it’s the sound of people getting mad, its time to shake things up.  Legacy doesn’t begin or end with blue cards, in fact blue cards aren’t even needed, as there is an entire faction of decks that believe, for the most part, that blue cards only provide a speed bump on their way to overrun their opponents and those decks are aggro decks.  Most people won’t play aggro decks because they’ve gotten a bad rap over the years.  Affinity is a one trick pony that can be dealt with by just stemming the first wave, Goblins is consistent but people don’t seem to like consistency and it will always be Hugo to Merfolk’s Bart.  But there exists another option, a collection of cards that provide consistency and reliability and can out tempo any deck around and all of this starts with one card…

Tarmogoyf

So what makes [Card]Tarmogoyf[/Card] so good that he, it?,  is the most expensive non portal creature in not only Legacy but all of Magic?  After all it is a vanilla creature for two mana which can be strictly worse than [Card]Werebear[/Card], and he does not even have controversial flavor text.  So what makes Tarmogoyf so good?  The best possible scenario when casting Tarmogoyf is that you get a 8/9 creature.  If you were thinking, “Wait a minute that’s not worse than Werebear”, turns out you are right.  So what makes Tarmogoyf so good is the huge potential upside or if you’re into mathematics, Tarmogoyf gives you lots of positive EV.  So let’s break it down for you, Tarmogoyf grows in power and toughness based on the number of card types among cards in ALL graveyards.

In total there are 8 card types in magic today:

– Land
– Creature
– Instant
– Sorcery
– Artifact
– Enchantment
– Planeswalker
– Tribal

So now we need to get all of those cards into the graveyard.  Most will be pretty straight forward, some will be more difficult and one is impossible unless you are facing Goblins or Eldrazi-Post, same deal 5 points if you guess right and -5 if the gatherer guesses right.  The more difficult ones will be artifact, enchantment and Planeswalker as unless you’re facing the right deck, they won’t be played.  In most games however there will pretty much always going to be land and instant.  Creature and Sorcery is rather hit and miss but even if you get three of those four, Tarmogoyf is a 3/4.  That may seem complicated but that is why Tarmogoyf is so good, because without much effort you will usually get a 3/4 for two mana with no drawback, and that my friends is the kind of EV, Magic players like.  Oh as for the impossible card type, that would be tribal and the only two cards I’ve ever seen in a tier legacy deck is … [Card]Warren Weirding[/Card] and [Card]All Is Dust[/Card]. (Author’s Note: You can add [Card]Bitterblossom[/Card] to that list as it was around quite a bit in Providence)

Zoo

[Deck Title=Zoo By Mary Jacobson]
[Lands]
4 Arid Mesa
1 Forest
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Mountain
1 Plains
2 Plateau
2 Savannah
3 Taiga
3 Windswept Heath
3 Wooded Foothills
[/Lands]
[Creatures]
2 Gaddock Teeg
3 Grim Lavamancer
2 Kird Ape
3 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Loam Lion
3 Qasali Pridemage
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Wild Nacatl
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Chain Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path To Exile
2 Price of Progress
[/Spells]
[Sideboard]
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Knight of the Reliquary
2 Krosan Grip
3 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Magus of the Moon
1 Qasali Pridemage
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Relic of Progenitus
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

The list presented above is the one Mary Jacobsen piloted to a top 8 finish at SCG Washington in early 2011, there are many variations on the list however, a slightly modified version of this is the one that I’ve liked most through all of my testing.  So what is a Zoo deck you ask, well simply put in Standard terms it is a Naya themed deck or Red, Green and White and as the name implies it is a creature based deck that plays small cheaply costed creatures that grow in size whether due to lands in play, lands in the graveyard or by being a Tarmogoyf!  It’s complimented by a burn spell package and Grim Lavamancer to burn their opponent for those last points of damage or burn their opponent’s creatures to smash for those last points of damage.

Mana Base

Being a three color deck, Zoo must rely on two different Legacy staples in order provide its mana base.  The first of these are dual lands, in this case being a three color deck Zoo relies on three different dual lands, those being [Card]Plateau[/Card] (Red/White), [Card]Savannah[/Card] (Green/White) and [Card]Taiga[/Card] (Red/Green).  Each of these lands allow Zoo to access two of its three colors needed to power its deck, though it is not always ideal to rely on drawing the correct dual land according to your hands needs, which is why Zoo employs another Legacy staple, Fetch Lands in order to properly fix its mana needs.  The three fetch lands employed in this deck are [Card]Windswept Heath[/Card] (Plains or Forest), [Card]Wooded Foothills[/Card] (Mountain or Forest) and [Card]Arid Mesa[/Card] (Mountain or Plains) and each of these fetch lands is capable of searching up for any of the three dual lands that the Zoo deck plays.  Commonly as well, since some of Zoo’s creatures receive power and toughness bonuses from having a specific land in play, Zoo will play basic lands, normally one of each ([Card]Plains[/Card], [Card]Mountain[/Card] & [Card]Forest[/Card]) in order to prevent it from being prone to Wasteland.

You may notice in Mary’s list that there is a land present that I have not mentioned yet and that is because similar to Alex Bertoncini playing a singleton copy of [Card]Mishra’s Factory[/Card], most Zoo decks have one extra land slot that is filled based on the player employing that particular deck.  Now there is no set choice for that slot and it greatly varies on the player but there are three common choices that I regularly see.  The first is [Card]Horizon Canopy[/Card], the land which Mary chose, as it provides two of three colors but it also allows to cantrip in the late game where you may need one last spell to get you the victory.  The second choice is [Card]Sejiri Steppe[/Card], which when used in combination with Knight of the Reliquary allows it to be searched up in response to an opponents spell targeting your creature to negate that spell or to give one of your creatures protection from your opponents board to be able to swing thru for lethal unblocked.  The last choice and this one is fairly dependant on what the local metagame is, is [Card]Bojuka Bog[/Card].  It’s not as ideal as it’s off color, however with the combination of Knight of the Reliquary, it can be employed to remove your opponent’s graveyard in response to any shenanigans he may have going on.  It won’t win you the game but normally if employed correctly it will prevent you from losing the game.  The only reason to play this maindeck is because the metagame has a high concentration of Dredge, Cephalid Breakfast/Life or other graveyard recursion decks, my recommendation is don’t even consider it unless more than 25% of the field is playing a graveyard deck and even then by the time you’re able to get your Knight online, chances are your opponent is well on his way to winning so consider other options.  As for the constituency of lands, that choice I will leave up to you but 20 to 21 lands seems to be the ideal amount, with 9 to 10 of those being fetch lands.

Budget Options: The most expensive cards in the card will be the dual lands.  The positive side is that this is the only tier deck around that plays Plateaus and the Savannahs and Taigas are among the four lowest price duals, not playing blue has its upsides!  The only alternative to these are the Ravnica shock lands, as along with the duals, they are the only lands that have basic land types in their subtype and can in turn be fetched for them.  Speaking of fetch lands, the Onslaught fetch lands may be slightly too expensive for some, however the Zendikar fetch lands are still around in Standard and at a lower price so you could substitute for them.  The downside is that you will be missing access to two of your three basics, which can cause problems against [Card]Wasteland[/Card], but you can still fetch for duals to get the correct colors

Creatures

Zoo has a contingency of creatures that pack a surprising punch and the first of these is the original ape, [Card]Kird Ape[/Card].  At first glance he seems like a vanilla 1/1 for one red mana but if you have a forest in play he becomes a 2/3 and if you have a Taiga on the first turn, then play Kird Ape, you get a 2/3 for one red mana.  And you though Tarmogoyf gave you value!  Next is the ape’s white twin, [Card]Loam Lion[/Card] who again for the price of one white mana you get a 1/1 but have a forest in play and, you guessed it, you get a 2/3 for one white mana, turn one Savannah means a 2/3 for one white mana on turn 1.  [Card]Wild Nacatl[/Card] rounds out the trio of creatures that take into account lands in play, while complementing the mana colors, this time being a one drop in green but now having two conditions which can be met individually or together, as he gets a 1 and 1 boost for having a mountain in play and another 1 and 1 boost for having a plains in play, meaning with a dual and a basic you can be attacking with a 3/3 on turn two.

On the other side of the ball is [Card]Knight of the Reliquary[/Card] which cares about lands in the graveyard in order to grow in size.  As previously mentioned though he also has this fine ability which lets him sacrifice a forest or a plains to search for any land in your deck, this allows you for some interactions with cards like Sejiri Steppe, to protect your creatures, Bojuka bog to nuke your opponents graveyard or even the correct dual to pump up your Wild Nacatls and Kird Apes for those extra points of damage on your opponent or so they’ll survive entering the red zone against your opponent.  The deck packs in a trio if not more of [Card]Qasali Pridemage[/Card] for a 2/2 body and an exalted trigger but more importantly than all of that, it provides main deck artifact and enchantment hate which is brutal against pretty much every deck as most decks play artifacts or enchantments of importance causing people to play around it, unless your Patrick Sullivan as Sligh is not concerned with such a card.  Being a beat down deck that plays green, [Card]Tarmogoyf[/Card] is an auto include, as already discussed, for two mana most of the time you’ll consistently get a 3/4.

Rounding out the creature package is the bane of all creature decks around, [Card]Grim Lavamancer[/Card].  For one red mana and two cards from your graveyard you can deal two damage to any creature or player, which helps clear the board of your opponent’s creatures.  An important point to note is that unless you are within range of killing your opponent with a Grim Lavamancer within three turns or less, you always burn his creatures and deal him combat damage with your creatures.  Also be mindful of the cards you are removing from your graveyard as both Knight of the Reliquary and Tarmogoyf are dependant on certain cards in your graveyard and removing these by not paying attention can cause you problems down the road where you get your opponent down to two or three life when he should have been dead.  The last creature found in this particular version of the deck are two copies of [Card]Gaddock Teeg[/Card] which is definitely an unconventional choice when choosing main deck creatures but that can be a beast against most decks as he creates the following cards to be dead in your opponent’s hand: [Card]Green Sun’s Zenith[/Card], [Card]Engineered Explosives[/Card], [Card]Jace, the Mind Sculptor[/Card], [Card]Moat[/Card], [Card]Humility[/Card], [Card]Dread Return[/Card], [Card]Fireblast[/Card], [Card]Ad Nauseam[/Card] & [Card]Tendrils of Agony[/Card] to name a few.  If he is relevant against your opponent than you have an edge as you have a sideboard card game one and at worse he is a 2/2 for two mana, which compared to the other creatures in this deck seems bad but it’s an acceptable sacrifice.

Another creature which has been increasingly played more in this deck is [Card]Stoneforge Mystic[/Card] as every format is now going Stoneforge crazy and while he seems good in this deck, to make the card worth your while you need to be playing at least two with at least two equipment, which means removing four aggro business cards for four slower cards, which is counterintuitive to what the deck is trying to accomplish.  If you like you can try him out in this deck though I would try and avoid it as it’s a trap unless played in a deck that can fully utilize the card.  Same thing goes for [Card]Noble Hierarch[/Card], which has appeared in a few decks.  Simply put Noble Hierarch is a Bant card and doesn’t provide you with red mana and the deck’s curve is so low it does not need mana accelerants, so avoid playing this and the same thing goes for [Card] Birds of Paradise[/Card]   A last creature I would like to discuss that is not played but that I would like to make a push for is [Card]Terravore[/Card], as his synergy with Knight of the Reliquary is undeniable and while good early he is usually a late game finisher that brings the pain!  If someone can test Terravore in this deck at let me know I would appreciate it, just remember to ensure there are lands in a graveyard before casting him!

Budget Options: While Grim Lavamancer and Knight of the Reliquary will most likely be hovering around the ten dollar mark in price, the real problem for budget players will be acquiring either by trade or buying of Tarmogoyf.  Most people just have their play sets of the card and it’s quite rare to find someone to trade with, especially if that person is trading down.  So what can be used to replace Tarmogoyf?  Stoneforge Mystic?  It’s definitely not budget but for those that have their copies because they play them in standard, there are the four slots you would need and Batterskull is a beating.  As for actual budget players looking to replace Tarmogoyf, I have two options for you, either the [Card]Steppe Lynx[/Card]/[Card]Plated Geopede[/Card] landfall route similar to standard as the deck plays about as many fetch lands, or the [Card]Jotun Grunt[/Card]/[Card]Keldon Marauders[/Card] route which are cards in play for a limited time, but as a Zoo player you want a fast clock so getting in for damage as quickly as possible is important and if all else fails you can load up on the creatures already in your deck so that you’re playing four of each creature.  Another suggestion going around is to play cards like [Card]Woolly Thoctar[/Card] or other creatures with greater mana restrictions but I would avoid this strategy as Tarmogoyf is a two drop so you want something to fill in that slot, not something that will push your clock longer.

Spells

I’ll make this short and sweet; every Zoo deck plays 4 copies of [Card]Lightning Bolt[/Card] as it is one of the strongest pieces of creature removal in those colors, outside of [Card]Swords To Plowshares[/Card].  So why not play swords? Swords awards your opponent with extra life, making your objective of reducing them to 0 life that much more difficult, where as bolt is straight removal and can even hit your opponent, also Zoo plays Path to Exile instead of Swords, but we’ll get to that.  So what is better than four copies of lightning bolt?  If you guessed eight copies of Lightning Bolt, then you are correct! Have 5 points!  That’s the reason the deck plays four copies of [Card]Chain Lightning[/Card].  Now if you pointed out Chain Lightning is a sorcery where as Lightning Bolt is an instant, my response to you is 8 Lightning Bolts, the only difference is you kill your opponent during your turn instead of the end of his turn.  Added Alex Hayne Pro Tip: Chain Lightning is a sorcery which makes [Card]Tarmogoyf[/Card] happy, if it can be happy.  Last there is [Card]Path to Exile[/Card] because sometimes your opponent’s creatures have more than 3 toughness.  The reason for playing this over Swords to Plowshares is the life gain as already mentioned and the added bonus, is while your opponent may search for a basic land, some decks do not play basic lands!

Turns out I lied about short and sweet, there’s actually two more spells I want to discuss.  The first is the inclusion in Mary’s deck of [Card]Price of Progress[/Card] in the main board.  Now this is kind of a high risk, high reward scenario, as unless you are playing against Sligh, the deck you are facing will have non-basic lands so Price of Progress will usually hit you’re opponent.  On the other hand Zoo runs non-basic lands so it will hit us.  So here is the justification for having Price of Progress in the deck.  It’s a finisher, plain and simple when you will be casting it, having it on the stack should represent lethal damage to your opponent leaving him the choice of dying or to survive using [Card]Wasteland[/Card] on his non basics and using his fetch lands to get basic lands or in some cases nothing at all, leaving your opponent with a compromised mana base and an uneasy predicament.  Further since Zoo has a faster clock than most non-combo decks, when you cast Price of Progress, you should be out of range of killing yourself with it or if you’re opponent has lethal on board next turn you could force a draw.  The second spell that has been moderately played is [Card]Green Sun’s Zenith[/Card].  Personally I prefer the build with the two main deck Gaddock Teegs as he’s a back breaking card for many decks and having one in play makes Green’s Sun Zenith a dead card in your hand.  As well Zoo has a very low mana curve as it needs to outrace your opponent where as the Green Sun’s Zenith adds an extra mana and thus an extra turn to the Zoo player’s clock so I would avoid it.

Budget Options: You want another difference between Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning; one was only printed in Legends where as the other can usually be found lying around on tables after players have cracked a bunch of core set packs.  This difference makes Chain Lightning a 15 dollar card, which can cause some players to flinch at spending 60 dollars for a play set of burn spells.  And in case you where wondering, you can’t play the Fire & Lightning ones, ORIGINALS ONLY. I’m kidding you’re allowed to play them, it is the budget options section after all, unless you’re name is, Justin Richardson, then you’re only allowed to play Legends [Card]Divine Offering[/Card]!   So what can you replace Chain Lightning with?  [Card]Burst Lightning[/Card]! It is basically Lightning Bolt for one less damage but with the kicker upside, not ideal but a play set will only run you a dollar, saving you 59 dollars to spend on the wife because you missed her birthday deciding whether you wanted to spend 60 dollars on a play set of Chain Lightning.

Sideboard

Same advice as last week, the best I can do is provide valuable card options against certain decks and then sideboard according to what your best bet of the metagame is, though my advice is no more than three copies of a card in your sideboard.  One thing to keep in mind for Zoo however is that many decks may only run two or three copies of a card but than may run an extra copy in the sideboard so that they have different options for creature and spell packages, so it is something to keep in mind. (Mary’s deck runs the extra Qasali Pridemage and Knight of the Reliquary in the sideboard) Here is a recommended list of sideboard cards for Zoo, with decks to sideboard them against in parenthesis:

– [Card]Bojuka Bog[/Card]: Though rare to see this in the mainboard it is commonly found in the sideboard to combat graveyard recursion. (Ex. Dredge, Reanimator)

– [Card]Carpet of Flowers[/Card]: You can play this on turn one and against most decks that play islands it will double your mana each turn allowing you to dump your hand and increase your clock. (Ex. Merfolk, Countertop)

– [Card]Choke[/Card]: Where as Carper of Flowers is more of an aggro option, Choke is the control option.  You want this against decks that rely primarily on dual lands for blue mana, though be wary because many decks can play around this with Daze to return lands or Aether Vial to bypass lands all together. (Ex. Team America, Merfolk, Threshold, Landstill)

– [Card]Elspeth, Knight-Errant[/Card]: Efficient for combating creature hate like Moat, while also giving the ability to [Card]Jump[/Card] over your opponent’s army of dudes.  Creatures with flying are not played much. (Ex. The Mirror, Decks with [Card]Moat[/Card])

– [Card]Ethersworn Canonist[/Card]: To protect yourself against combo decks.  Every combo deck has a way to deal with this so it is not a hard lock but it slows down your opponent enough to allow you to get there. (Ex. High Tide, ANT, TES)

– [Card]Gaddock Teeg[/Card]: When two Gaddock Teegs are not enough!  I’ve already written down the list of all cards this guy is good against so even if he is not in the mainboard he should definitely be a sideboard consideration. (Ex: ANT, Dredge and Team America, TES)

– [Card]Kataki, War’s Wage[/Card]: This card screams artifact hate and is in fact extremely useful to combat any artifact menaces you may face. (Ex. Affinity, Metalworker, Any Thopter Sword Combo Decks)

– [Card]Krosan Grip[/Card]: Split Second is the key, as it cannot be countered except by experienced [Card]Counterbalance[/Card] players and can really punish your opponent’s mistakes and carelessness. (Ex. Junk, Counter Top and Metalworker)

– [Card]Leyline of Sanctity[/Card]: Useful for turn 0 interaction to combat combo decks with a faster clock than yours and slow it down. (Ex. ANT, High Tide, Sligh, TES)

– [Card]Magus of the Moon[/Card]: This turns all non basic lands into mountains essentially ending games against most decks reliant on non basic lands. (Added Bonus: Fetch Lands are non basic so they cannot fetch) (Ex. Counter Top, Team America)

– [Card]Maze Of Ith[/Card]: The combo here is you can use this card at the end of your attack phase, after damage, yes there is such a phase, to untap your Knight so you can get an attack and an activation out of him.  I listed it in the sideboard as I generally play it as a sideboard card but it can be played main.  (Ex. Affinity, Reanimator, Poison Stompy)

– [Card]Mindbreak Trap[/Card]: A sneakier way to deal with combo than the canonist and if you are able to display dejected body language that indicates you are dead when they start comboing off you can catch them by surprise. (Ex. High Tide, ANT, TES)

– [Card]Price of Progress[/Card]: Out of the board this poses a lower risk than having it in the main but similar to what I already wrote about this card it is a finisher and if correctly employed can bring the pain. (Ex. Team America, Junk, Threshold, Affinity, Basically Any Deck With Non Basic Lands)

– [Card]Ranger of Eos[/Card]: Remember those 26 one drops, well it turns out 14 of those are creatures so this can be a viable strategy for battling in the late game versus creature decks when you need reinforcements. (Ex. Junk, The Mirror, Affinity)

– [Card]Red Elemental Blast[/Card]: Useful removal for any sideboard hate they may bring in as well as main deck problems like Jace and Merfolk. (Ex. Merfolk, Counter Top)

– [Card]Relic of Progenitus[/Card]: Similarly efficient as Bojuka Bog to combat graveyard recursion, though your opponent is aware of it and can play around it, it also cantrips, which is nice.  (Ex. Dredge, Reanimator)

– [Card]Tormod’s Crypt[/Card]: Unlike this Relic of Progenitus, this does not cantrip however if you play both you can play around [Card]Pithing Needle[/Card]. (Ex. Dredge, Reanimator)

– Sword Package: If you choose to play the Stoneforge Mystic package many players opt to reserve one or two sideboard slots for equipment targeted at a specific deck. (Ex. [Card]Sword of Light and Shadow[/Card] vs. Junk, [Card]Sword of Fire and Ice[/Card] vs. Threshold)

Last Words

With the release of New Phyrexia, everyone has been discussing the release of [Card]Mental Misstep[/Card] and its impact on Legacy.  Generally there are three strategies which can be applied to this Mental Misstep Mayhem, alliteration is fun, which is upon us for the next couple of months.  They are to avoid most one drops, similar to Team America and Affinity, to pretend Mental Misstep was never printed and then lose to it or to overload your deck with one drops so that Mental Misstep is of no real consequence.  Zoo decks fall into the latter category as taking Mary’s deck as an example; it contains 26 one drops so Mental Misstep eat your heart out!  So if you are looking for a legacy deck to play, Zoo is a good choice to consider for any tournament as many Legacy events are filled with bad players and bad decks, and sometimes the two are not mutually exclusive and to quote Alex Hayne, “Zoo beats bad players and bad decks.”  In its purest form, Zoo is an aggro deck similar to Affinity however unlike Affinity it has no quick and easy way to deal with it (ala [Card]Null Rod[/Card], [Card]Energy Flux[/Card] or Kataki) and its complement of spells allow it to interact in the later game as well.  Even in the hands of an inexperienced Legacy player, Zoo has the ability to be successful even without a familiarity with the format as long as one is mindful of the board interactions.  Beating a more experienced opponent may seem more difficult a task but simply remember that Zoo has a faster clock than most decks so to put it simply, you need to “Turn Them Sideways” as quickly as possible and success will be guaranteed.

In support of some Legacy brethren: #MoreAlex, #MoreFrank, #MoreKYT & of course #MoreMedina!

Let me know what you think about the deck and the article in the comments, I’ll read every one and until next time: Have Fun Playing Magic!

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