Since the Extended PTQ season is now is full swing and Pro Tour: Kyoto has come and gone, I feel it is time to focus solely on the Extended metagame. One deck that has performed surprisingly well lately is Naya Zoo, made famous at GP: LA by Adam Prosak. This is a 3-color variant on the traditional Domain Zoo that is more consistent and can easily afford to play Sulfuric Vortex, as well as a slew of more burn spells. On top of this, you have the ability to play man-lands like Treetop Village or Mutavault to fight against Faeries, while still having a consistent enough color base to play multiple red, white, or green spells in a single turn. Having a more consistent manabase allows you to do just what your deck was designed to do: win as quickly as possible. Having more burn spells than that traditional Domain Zoo is one upside that shouldn’t be ignored, and will occasionally allow you to steal games that seem out of reach.
The psychological difference between playing cards like Keldon Marauders or Hellspark Elemental as opposed to disruptive cards like Tidehollow Sculler is immense. For example, if you play Tidehollow Sculler on turn 2 against a control deck, you will rarely send it into harm’s way in combat. This can be fairly awkward for an aggressive deck that is trying to kill the opponent on turn 5. The same can not be said for Hellspark Elemental or Keldon Marauders, as they are on a virtual suicide mission to deal as much damage as possible to your opponent. Having more removal for opposing creatures allows you to facilitate this plan of attack, which is something the Domain Zoo deck has been lacking for quite some time, mostly due to the strict manabase requirements. Having lands like Godless Shrine or Breeding Pool will keep you from being able to efficiently cast spells like Tarfire or Sulfuric Vortex, and often will hinder you from playing multiple spells in a single turn. But, for Domain Zoo, those lands are a necessary evil to make your late game spells more powerful. This is where the two split: power versus consistency. Most of the time I choose the latter.
Here is my current list for Naya Zoo in Extended:
Creatures (22)
Lands (21)
Spells (17)
This list has a few aspects that seem to stick out like a sore thumb. The maindeck has two Ethersworn Canonist in order to have a small chance to ruin Game 1 for your TEPS or Elves opponent. This small addition also gives you two more crucial sideboard slots in order to help against your bad matchups (specifically TEPS). Having two maindeck cards and six sideboard cards for TEPS is generally enough to help you race them, since the matchup is all about forcing them to try to combo before they are ready. Drawing one of your maindeck Ethersworn Canonists game 1 can win the race pretty easily. Even if they have an Electrolyze or Magma Jet, they generally have to combo out before turn 5 if you have a reasonable draw. The extra turns you buy from just resolving an Ethersworn Canonist are fairly amazing.
Maindeck, you have 3 Path to Exile as potentially the best spot removal spell printed in five years. While this card may have some obvious drawbacks, it fits perfectly into your game plan of killing opposing creatures efficiently while your monsters take huge chunks out of their life total. It is even better against cards with persist like Kitchen Finks or Glen Elendra Archmage (while they’re tapped out of course). Path to Exile allows you to deal with opposing Tarmogoyfs with ease, while still being able to play another spell with your remaining mana. I would play Path to Exile in virtually every maindeck where you have a reasonable number of White mana sources. It is just that good. In the sideboard, I have a 4th Path to Exile to side in against decks that have problematic creatures, or a few larger threats that don’t die to 1-2 burn spells. This could range from Doran, the Siege Tower to Loxodon Hierarch, as Path to Exile doesn’t really discriminate (except against Progenitus).
One heavily debated slot is Keldon Marauders versus Hellspark Elemental. I am a huge fan of Keldon Marauders for a multitude of reasons. Primarily, there is a vast difference in mana requirements for each, even though they both have the same casting cost of 1R. Hellspark Elemental is effectively 6 damage for 2RR, over the course of a few turns. However, Keldon Marauders is effectively 5 damage for 1R over the same amount of turns. While the 1 extra damage may be tempting, I feel like there are many matchups where you would rather have the more efficient card mana-wise since you are only running 21 lands. Keldon Marauders also has the amazing possibility to block in mirror matches. While this may seem like a weak argument, mirror matches often come down to resource management, and Keldon Marauders presents a dilemma like few others. Alone, he can fend of an entire army of Kird Apes and Wild Nacatls by simply existing. Let me explain. From a defensive standpoint, if my opponent is on the aggressive with a few early creatures and I play Keldon Marauders, I have effectively stifled their attack for at least a turn. This reasoning is twofold:
1. They will feel that an attack into a creature destined for death is a waste of card advantage, and will not take into consideration life total as an exchange for a card.
2. They will feel like a burn spell targeting Keldon Marauders is loss of card advantage, even though it will allow them to attack for 4-6 damage from their earlier 1-drops.
These are both common fallacies that you see when playing with Naya Zoo against weaker players. They fail to see the big picture, and are worried too much about card advantage when they should be worried about winning the game. So, after playing Keldon Marauders in this situation, you effectively have two blocking steps that you didn’t have before. This results in roughly 6 prevented damage while still dealing 2 damage to your opponent. While on paper this may seem irrelevant, as your goal is to kill your opponent as fast as possible, the mirror match is a vicious animal. Resource management is key to winning the mirror match, and well-timed aggression or defense is always necessary.
With your sideboard, a little spice you probably noticed is Thrill of the Hunt. 95% of the time, this card will completely blow your opponent out of the water in the mirror or against Bant. Normally, where they think their creatures are trading for yours, out of nowhere two of your creatures get +1/+2 and kill their creatures, leaving you with an entire army still left to battle next turn. It is incredible for fighting Tarmogoyf against Tarmogoyf, and will be unexpected to say the least. It can also save your creatures from burn spells like Lightning Helix or Incinerate, making you look like a genius in the process. The card may seem weak at first glance, but blowouts generally do.
One “fair” card in your sideboard is Duergar Hedge-mage. He has been out of the spotlight lately, but I think it is time for a comeback. More and more blue mages are sideboarding Threads of Disloyalty, and he handles that problem quite nicely. On top of that, he can easily handle an opposing Umezawa’s Jitte that may put a kink in your gameplan. If you are ever so lucky to bust up an artifact and an enchantment, please let me know. But, that seems like a bit too “Magical Christmas Land” to me. Oh, if I could only live the dream. On top of being great against Faeries, he tends to break some robots up as well. In tandem with Kataki, War’s Wage, your Affinity matchup shouldn’t be much of a problem. Path to Exile should handle their bigger threats, and your other burn spells should be able to destroy their smaller creatures.
Next, we come to Sulfuric Vortex. While many players think that something like Forge[/author]“]Pulse of the [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author] or Char is optimal in this slot, I completely disagree. While handling the more problematic cards in the format like Kitchen Finks and the life-gain aspect of Umezawa’s Jitte, Sulfuric Vortex puts a pretty fair clock on your opponent. Control decks in general hate seeing this card more than anything else in your deck (aside from a turn 1 Wild Nacatl on the play). As a long time Faeries player, I can attest that curving into turn 3 Sulfuric Vortex is pretty hard to deal with. If they don’t have Mana Leak, then they are usually dead by turn 6 or faster. Having to tap out for Engineered Explosives in order to destroy your early threats leaves them vulnerable on turn 3 to a resolved Sulfuric Vortex, and usually spells “GG.” I can only imagine what it must feel like to play a control deck without counterspells against Sulfuric Vortex…
As for your matchups, there are six decks in the format you will face more than any other. I will go over each matchup with a few sideboard strategies, as well as how you should look at each matchup and certain situations. The six big decks are:
TEPS
Elves
Faeries
Loam
Zoo
Affinity
You will face these decks more than any other in a given format, though there are some fringe strategies creeping up in popularity (I’m looking at you Bant!). While these decks might be decent, they aren’t really popular enough to break through this threshold just yet, but I’ll talk a little bit about it. Bant is a decent deck. Noble Hierarch is good, but I don’t think he warrants the deck to immediately become Tier 1. However, I do feel the Bant deck is strong enough to be Tier 2. This matchup is pretty bad for you, as their creatures are generally bigger, and they have cards like Rhox War Monk or Umezawa’s Jitte. They also have maindeck combination of Path to Exile, Oblivion Ring, Bant Charm, or other ways to deal with your relevant threats. With maindeck Path to Exile, you should be able to remove their problematic creatures like Rhox War Monk and Tarmogoyf to rumble on through, though. If you can kill their Noble Hierarchs early, then you should be able to get a quick advantage on the play. On top of that, they are usually dead to a resolved Sulfuric Vortex, as most lists don’t play Venser, Shaper Savant or Cryptic Command. After sideboard, you even get to blow them out with Thrill of the Hunt. How wonderful!
Sideboarding Strategies for the BIG Matchups-
TEPS: -2 Sulfuric Vortex, -3 Path to Exile, -1 Mogg Fanatic
+4 Pyrostatic Pillar, +2 Ethersworn Canonist
Against TEPS, your plan in game 1 is to kill them as quickly as possible. It is a pure race, but you can occasionally get lucky and mise the early Ethersworn Canonist, locking them out of the game. Your plan in games 2-3 is to aggressively mulligan until you find Ethersworn Canonist or Pyrostatic Pillar. If you have either of these, they have a tough time winning before you do. If they side in Echoing Truth and Repeal, then they have a better shot of “not dying” but a harder time actually performing their combo. On top of this, you are still a very aggressive deck with a stellar clock. While TEPS is probably one of your “bad” matchups, I wouldn’t say it is terrible. You probably win close to 40% of the time, and that percentage increases as your opponent’s skill level decreases. TEPS is a difficult deck to pilot perfectly, and usually it takes a great pilot to do well in a tournament. For example, I saw someone recently make Top 8 with TEPS at a PTQ, and didn’t know he could charge his Dreadship Reef, then take counters off it to cast Mind’s Desire in the same turn. While it may seem obvious to most, generally you will find that your average PTQ competitor (even those that make Top 8) don’t fully understand the intricacies that lie in their own decks. Mustbenice.
Against Elves: -2 Sulfuric Vortex, -4 Keldon Marauders, -1 Kird Ape
+4 Pyrostatic Pillar, +2 Ethersworn Canonist, +1 Path to Exile
When playing against Elves, it is important to remember what creatures of theirs are the most important at any given time. If they cast Glimpse of Nature, then clearly their Nettle Sentinels, Birchlore Rangers, and Heritage Druids go up in value. You should target these quickly if you think they are about to combo against you. If they are on their gameplan to stall you or go aggro, then Wirewood Hivemaster is very important. He can easily ruin your day, so he should have a pretty large target on his head. In this matchup, Keldon Marauders is a bad joke. But, Hellspark Elemental would not be much better. So, he comes out in favor of anti-combo cards like Pyrostatic Pillar and Ethersworn Canonist. I side out 1 Kird Ape in this matchup because you need as much removal as possible, and he is likely the least important creature left in the deck. When playing against Elves, always keep in mind what they can do, and what you think they are about to do. Elves is one of your tougher matchups, and they will win about 60% or more of the time. Without Jitte, it is fairly difficult for your creatures to break through their wall of 1/1’s. However, if you can stick one of your sideboard cards you can usually take them down fairly quickly.
Against Loam: -1 Incinerate, +1 Sulfuric Vortex
You are virtually presided against Loam, as they can’t usually deal with your threats in a timely manner. You have Path to Exile to trump their Tarmogoyf or Kitchen Finks, and you have Sulfuric Vortex to completely ruin their day. If they play Bitterblossom, then I would recommend siding in the 2 Duergar Hedge-mage as he can sometimes “get there” and snag an Umezawa’s Jitte and a Bitterblossom. Canonist isn’t particularly exciting, but can occasionally keep your opponent from going crazy with Life from the Loam and Raven’s Crime. If you resolve a Sulfuric Vortex at any point in the game, you should usually win. However, if they are sitting with two Tarmogoyfs on the other side of the table and are on 20 life, this is definitely not the case. They usually have enough removal to hinder you slightly, but the versions playing 3-4 Darkblast maindeck tend to be a bit easier on your 3/3’s and 2/3’s. Even Mogg Fanatic still sacrifices for value against a Darkblast.
Against Faeries: -2 Ethersworn Canonist, -1 Path to Exile
+1 Sulfuric Vortex, +2 Duergar Hedge-mage
Giving Faeries more mana isn’t something you necessarily want to do, but Path to Exile is an effective way of crushing Sower of Temptation, so keeping a few in the deck isn’t so bad. It can also sometimes blow out their Glen Elendra Archmage if they tap out on turn 4 for it. Game 1 is generally a cake walk, as they don’t have much in the way of combating such an early creature rush and burn spells except for Engineered Explosives and Umezawa’s Jitte. You can overwhelm them as long as you don’t overextend, and can finish them off with a well-timed Sulfuric Vortex or slew of burn spells at their head. They can’t usually win in a reasonable timeframe, since your removal spells are so effective at killing their creatures. This gives you infinite time to accumulate burn in hand, or a creature presence on board. You also have the threat of Treetop Village which is invulnerable to Engineered Explosives and Sower of Temptation. Their only real out for Treetop Village in game 1 is Vendilion Clique, but you have infinite ways to send that guy to the graveyard before blocks are declared. In game 2-3 they usually sideboard in more Umezawa’s Jitte and Threads of Disloyalty. This makes the value of Duergar Hedge-mage rise significantly. I’m seriously wanting a third out of the sideboard, as his value against Faeries and Affinity is pretty amazing. Without Threads of Disloyalty (or equivalent removal), Faeries can’t really compete with your blisteringly fast draws. If they don’t have an early Engineered Explosives, they’re basically kold to your regular aggro draw. Even if they have Threads, their only great target is Tarmogoyf. If they steal your Kird Ape or Wild Nacatl, it is usually just a 1/1 or 2/2. Duergar Hedge-mage solves this problem, as well as dealing with their only other out against you: Umezawa’s Jitte. Most people think you should side out Tarmogoyf against Faeries for the Threads of Disloyalty problem, but I just think you should bring in Duergar Hedge-mages. This argument will be solved via further playtesting.
Mirror: -2 Sulfuric Vortex, -2 Ethersworn Canonist, -1 Tarfire
+1 Path to Exile, +2 Thrill of the Hunt, +2 Duergar Hedge-mage
In the mirror, you can leave Duergar Hedge-mage in the sideboard if you believe that they don’t have targets. But many lists still play Oblivion Ring, Umezawa’s Jitte, Sulfuric Vortex, Ethersworn Canonist, etc. If they are playing the Domain Zoo, then Duergar Hedge-mage also gains value from splash damage on Tidehollow Sculler. He also has value if they don’t side out Ethersworn Canonists. Game 1 should be all about managing your life total correctly, and knowing when to play defense or apply pressure. Keldon Marauders is a great example of a card where you have to know what role you have taken in the game. If you are taking the aggressive role, then attacking with him is the right thing to do. However, if you are behind on the board, often holding him back to block can buy you a few turns to draw out of your situation. Playing your removal spells at timely intervals can allow you to get back into a game where you though you had lost. More than likely your opponent will not have maindeck Path to Exile, which makes your Tarmogoyfs even better. This gives you a slight edge in the mirror, as most players rely on Tarmogoyf as both a great defender, and a game-breaker later in the game. Thrill of the Hunt should be an absolute blowout in combat. They won’t expect it, and its effects are devastating to a tapped out opponent.
Against Affinity: -2 Sulfuric Vortex, -4 Keldon Marauders
+2 Duergar Hedge-mage, +3 Kataki, War’s Wage, +1 Path to Exile
While Keldon Marauders is fine in the mirror match, the same cannot be said for the Affinity matchup. Often he will not trade in combat with a creature, and can’t attack into an Arcbound Ravager, Myr Enforcer, Atog, or Master of Etherium. Siding out Keldon Marauders and Sulfuric Vortex give you plenty of room to side in your bombs, while still maintaining most of your deck’s integrity. You’re still a very aggressive deck, but you’ll probably win on the back of removing their creatures and attacking for 2-3. Your matchup game 1 is fairly difficult, as your only way to effectively deal with their larger threats is to play a Tarmogoyf, or to draw Path to Exile. In this matchup, Path to Exile is actually the stone cold nuts. It is by far the best removal spell against them, as they play both large monsters and no basic lands. Kataki, War’s Wage plays a similar role as a game-breaker, but is a bit vulnerable to opposing Path to Exile, Darkblast, etc. Having 1 toughness is a pretty huge downer, but he is still incredible. Duergar Hedge-mage pulls double duty by being good in this matchup, as Viridian Shamans tend to be decent against a deck full of robots. After sideboarding, this matchup is way easier to handle, but Affinity still has that “I win” factor that can’t be dealt with on occasion. If you have a bad draw, or stumble against their ridiculous draw, few decks can win from that situation. I considered playing a few more anti-artifact cards in the sideboard like Ancient Grudge, but felt that Kataki, War’s Wage was generally more powerful, and usually has a bigger effect on the game. Filling your sideboard with cards that are only good against a single matchup is pretty awful. You should realize that a lot of cards have the potential to cross over into different matchups, giving your sideboard versatility and depth. Cards like Path to Exile and Duergar Hedge-mage help to facilitate this theory, but cards like Kataki, War’s Wage can’t be ignored because of their sheer power against a popular archetype.
In conclusion, I think Naya Zoo is the only other Tier 1 deck in Extended alongside Faeries. With the capability to beat any deck in the format, it boasts impressive percentages against the better decks in the field. With strong sideboard options, as well as a great aggressive maindeck, it has the tools to put up a fight against everything. It especially shines in a field full of Faeries, as it is arguably your best matchup. While I would never want to play against Faeries all day, it would be much less of a problem when you’re playing Wild Nacatl. It also has the benefit of winning matches in 10 minutes so you can go get some lunch! That isn’t something I can say for most other decks in the format.
Thanks for reading, and as always, feel free to comment in the forums! I’ll take any criticism you have, as long as it is Constructed!
Todd Anderson
strong sad on MTGO
soyweenus on AIM
x2jtande AT southernco DOT com