The classic zoo deck has been basically shut down in the current meta due to Guild Enforcers. An entire board of 1-2 mana creatures can wipe on an Enforcer without killing it. The favor mechanic also puts zoo at a disadvantage: your opponent gets 3 favor each time they kill one of your small creatures.
I've been working on a Nature Zoo deck that I think will make Zoo viable again. It's OK as is, but I'll go over some critical CSR changes that will make it scary.
The "Get Wide" Deck
Animal Bond god power all the time.
Deck Code:
GU_1_5_HAzHAzGAwCAuCAuCBfHAEHAECATCATCCOCCOCAvCAvIASBCCBCCIDKIDKCBxCBxCDLCDLGAbCByCByIDOIDOGAnGAn
General Idea
Should be obvious.
- Get wide.
- Buff your board.
- Win the game.
Key Cards
These cards help us get wide, stay wide, and buff our creatures.
Gameplay
This is not your usual gameplay video. Usually people show you the wins. I'll be showing this loss, as it pretty much perfectly encapsulates what's wrong with zoo at the moment, but also helps make it clear how things will get better.
I doubt I played this game perfectly, but you'll see the impact of armor, the opponent generating favor, and even them scoring some 1/7 probability hits to win the game.
Core Set Refresh
There are lots of changes in the CSR, but these standout:
- Moon Hound is changing to 3/4 (still refreshing 3 mana)
- Firewine is changing to 3 mana
- Wild Hog isn't changing (I don't think), but nature is getting a Wild Hog with ward called Frisky Fox Pup.
The biggest change is Firewine. At 3 mana, you can get wide and punish opponents early. You'll almost certainly be looking for this in your opening hand. Also, from my gameplay vid, you can see how big a difference this can make against armor.
3 mana also opens up some combos with Axewomen and Underbrush Boars. Managarmr means that you can play a boar, attack to refresh 3 mana, then hit the firewine. Axewomen is a very simple 4-mana combo. This plus 1 or 2 other creatures on board knocks out Guild Enforcer and delivers heavy punishment.
The other big thing about Firewine's rise in dominance: it doesn't require wild creatures! Not only are Axewomen back on the menu, but so is everything else. Cardsharks and Wicked Fae's may be good options (or any cheap cards that spawn multiple creatures). Probably better than best friends, actually. No condition to meet and no confusion means you can make the most of overkill.
Frisky Fox Pup's ward is going to make it a lot easier to stick on the board.
Lastly, there is a lot of talk from the Dev team in discord about tweaking the armor mechanic. All suggestions I've seen are to tone it down a bit. If this takes place combined with the CSR, you'll see a new nature meta emerge.
Conclusion
This is already a fun deck to play during the week. I won't be running this in weekend ranked anytime soon, but all bets are off when CSR hits.