Many people were scared of what Wild Nacatl’s unbanning would do to Modern, but so far the cat has been relatively tame. The threat of turn 4 combo decks plus the poor matchup against Birthing Pod has left Wild Nacatl with its tail between its legs after Pro Tour Born of the Gods.
A few weeks ago, I ran into a Naya Zoo deck that I thought would be a great matchup for my Scapeshift deck. Well, even after a turn 3 Obstinate Baloth, I died on his turn 4! I think my opponent had Loam Lion instead of CorpT’s Burning-Tree Emissaries, but otherwise the deck was remarkably similar. Somewhat surprisingly, it was very deadly.
This deck ports the Boros Charm / Ghor-Clan Rampager combo from Standard to great effect, giving Zoo a powerful finishing move not seen outside of Snapcaster Mage / Tribal Flames. Rather than dirty up the deck and ruin the mana base, you should be giving Boros Charm a try.
With a consistent turn 4 kill that rivals combo decks, a solid mana base, and a high threat density, Zoo seems like it’s a sleeper hit in Modern. While there are some issues, I think those can be rectified with your sideboard.
Creatures (28)
- 4 Kird Ape
- 4 Tarmogoyf
- 4 Wild Nacatl
- 4 Goblin Guide
- 4 Burning-Tree Emissary
- 4 Experiment One
- 4 Ghor-Clan Rampager
Lands (20)
Spells (12)
