Punishing Zoo Update

After a lengthy hiatus from Zoo I was itching to sling Wild Nacatls again, so I came up with a new Punishing Zoo list.

In the process I noticed that throughout 2016, MTGO player nekoyama had been putting up results playing various configurations of Punishing Zoo (the archetype had no results in paper events though). His lists are on the grindiest end of the spectrum and many would argue aren't even Zoo, eschewing staples like Lightning Bolt and Tarmogoyf for cards like Stoneforge Mystic and Huntmaster of the Fells.

I decided to go in a more traditional direction when re-vamping my last list from ~February 2016. One new card had caught my eye-Thalia, Heretic Cathar looked like a strong and natural addition to the deck.

So far I've played Punishing Zoo in 4 local weekly events over the last few weeks and prized (X-1 in 3 or 4 rounds) at all of them.

Here is the current iteration of the deck:

Punishing Zoo, 12/19/16
Creature Spells (20) 4x Noble Hierarch 4x Wild Nacatl 3x Qasali Pridemage 2x Scavenging Ooze 1x Gaddock Teeg 4x Knight of the Reliquary 2x Thalia, Heretic Cathar	Noncreature Spells (17) 4x Green Sun's Zenith 4x Lightning Bolt 4x Swords to Plowshares 3x Punishing Fire 1x Sylvan Library 1x Chandra, Pyromaster
Lands (23) 4x Wooded Foothills 4x Windswept Heath 3x Savannah 2x Taiga 2x Plateau 1x Forest 1x Dryad Arbor 3x Grove of the Burnwillows 1x Karakas 1x Kessig Wolf Run 1x Wasteland	SB: 3x Surgical Extraction SB: 3x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben SB: 1x Gaddock Teeg SB: 1x Pyroblast SB: 1x Ancient Grudge SB: 1x Enlightened Tutor SB: 1x Pithing Needle SB: 1x Ethersworn Canonist SB: 1x Grafdigger's Cage SB: 1x Stony Silence SB: 1x Worship

Some musings so far:

• Thalia, Heretic Cathar (replacing Tarmogoyf) has been a solid addition as expected. She has an aggressive body and an asymmetric hateful ability, which I think makes for an excellent Zoo card-I've often considered playing Spirit of the Labyrinth and/or Aven Mindcensor for the same reasons, but Thalia's power level is far higher.

• I used to always play 1 basic Plains, but the mana in the deck is a bit awkward so I cut it for the 3rd Savannah. I would only put the Plains back in a meta with known Burn and/or Blood Moon players, or maybe in a large unknown meta.

• Related to the above, I played Blood Moon in the sideboard a few times. Blood Moon provides valuable land hate for this deck which only plays a single Wasteland. However, I believe you need to have a basic Plains to play your own Blood Moons. Winter Orb might provide a bit of a compromise.

• I'm still unsure which "Trample land" is better between Kessig Wolf Run and Skarrg, the Rage Pits (linked for any unfortunates who don't know this beautiful card). I tested Skarrg and while it is more efficient and gives a point of toughness, the ability to pump Wolf Run to infinity may be superior. Skarrg definitely wins big in the "wtf" category, and the reactions of opponents I killed aided by this card were fantastic. Overall, I think the "Trample land" slot is valuable in Zoo because the deck can sometimes struggle in a grind to push damage through. 

• Worship in the sideboard is a concession to the Eldrazi matchup primarily. I only played against Eldrazi once and lost, and think its not a great matchup. While we have Knight, we have a bad Wasteland plan and are a bit vulnerable to Chalice. Cutting Tarmogoyf probably hurts the most here. Having access to Blood Moon could be an avenue to improve this matchup.