Viability of Zoo

[Weller]

The topic says it all, but let me further elaborate:

Zoo (as in WRG Aggro) seems to be an interesting endeavor, as far as general power level of the possible cards is concerned. What makes me wonder is whether or not the deck can be consistent enough to compete.
If I were to build something like it, I probably would start with a backbone consisting of the following cards:

0cc
Land Grant

1cc
AEther Vial, Berserk, Birds of Paradise, Chain Lightning, Granger Guildmage, Grim Lavamancer, Isamaru, Jackal Pup, Jungle Lion, Kird Ape, Lightning Bolt, Mogg Fanatic, Mother of Runes, Rancor, Savannah Lions, Scorched Rusalka, Skyshroud Elite, Swords to Plowshares, Tarfire, Tithe

2cc
Blade of the Sixth Pride, Dryad Sophisticate, Gaddock Teeg, Goblin Legionnaire, Incinerate, Jötun Grunt, Kami of Ancient Law, Kataki, Lightning Helix, Magma Jet, Price of Progress, Survival of the Fittest, Tarmogoyf, Tin Street Hooligan, Watchwolf, Wild Mongrel, Winter Orb

3cc
Burning-Tree Shaman, Call of the Herd, Magus of the Moon, Stonecloaker, Sword of Fire and Ice, Troll Ascetic

4cc
Armageddon, Giant Solifuge, Ravages of War

5+cc
Exalted Angel, Genesis

Taking into account that this is already about half a deck and I probably want to play at least 33+ lands, even though the deck's mana curve is rather low, testing has to show, what might be good enough to fill the remaining slots.
But the question remains: Is this even a reliable and solid approach towards an aggro deck? In comparison to the "Firesgeddon" deck from the front page the zoo deck has greatly reduced mana cost (and doesn't have to run moxen and similar stuff which quite frankly I started to dislike due to their randomness), but suffers from smaller creatures and as such a - wild guessing at this time - worse matchup against aggro. As such some space could be filled with Loxodon Hierarch and his ilk (maybe even Brion Stoutarm who at least looks rather solid).

Apart from general viability I have some more general questions:
a) Is my assessment of the Moxen correct? Am I correct in excluding them from such a deck due to inherent card disadvantage and randomness?
b) Should all white decks run Enlightened Tutor? I am inclined towards running it, alongside Seal of Cleansing/Primordium and Seal of Fire, to be able to grab random utility and of course the allmighty Survival of the Fittest.
c) Jötun Grunt - Yay or nay? I find it curious that he is so often excluded from the White Weenie decks that seem to be popping up all over the metagame. Is he to inconsistent?

In any case thanks for anyone who replies and hopefully is able to answer my questions.

[Mythrandir]

seems good enough.. but the 3 color for an aggro deck might give u some not so good hands.
i think moxen is good, especially diamond...
has for enlightned tutor.. i think u should play if you play with cards like: winter orb, ank mishra, blood moon etc.. you can also consider having more equipment (swords, wargear, etc.. then u could also play steelshaper gift. you should also play eladmari call and cursed scroll and magus
has for jotun, never tested, but i think there are better things..
just my 2 cents

[Sturmgott]

I really like your approach, mostly because I think the 3 colors make the deck more interesting and fun to play. What struck me is your idea of playing Price of Progress in a 3-color deck that MUST play LOADS of nonbasics to become at least half-way consistent. I don't think the deck can afford more to play more than 6-8 basic lands. If your deck is built on a curve, I wouldn't play the moxen.

[Vazdru]

Here my Grw-Beatz (without any Lorwyncards yet):

Lands (33)

Ancient Tomb
Barbarian Ring
Blinkmoth Nexus
Bloodstained Mire
City of Brass
Flagstones of Trokair
Flooded Strand
Forest (1)
Gemstone Mine
Horizon Canopy
Karakas
Keldon Megaliths
Llanowar Reborn
Mishra's Factory
Mountain (3)
Pendelhaven
Plains (2)
Plateau
Rishadan Port
Sacred Foundry
Savannah
Skarrg, the Rage Pits
Stomping Ground
Taiga
Temple Garden
Treetop Village
Wasteland
Windswept Heath
Wooded Foothills


Creatures (38)

Anurid Brushhopper
Avalanche Riders
Aven Mindcensor
Basking Rootwalla
Birds of Paradise
Blastoderm
Boros Swiftblade
Burning-Tree Shaman
Eternal Witness
Exalted Angel
Flametongue Kavu
Fyndhorn Elves
Giant Solifuge
Goblin Legionnaire
Grim Lavamancer
Gruul Guildmage
Harmonic Sliver
Isamaru, Hound of Konda
Kataki, War's Wage
Keldon Marauders
Llanowar Elves
Loaming Shaman
Loxodon Hierarch
Nantuko Vigilante
Ravenous Baloth
Sakura-Tribe Elder
Silhana Ledgewalker
Spectral Force
Squee, Goblin Nabob
Stonecloaker
Tarmogoyf
Tin Street Hooligan
Troll Ascetic
Viridian Zealot
Wall of Roots
Watchwolf
Werebear
Wild Mongrel

Spells (29)

AEther Vial
Armadillo Cloak
Armageddon
Berserk
Call of the Herd
Chain Lightning
Char
Eladamri's Call
Elephant Guide
Flames of the Blood Hand
Fling
Grafted Wargear
Griffin Guide
Incinerate
Lightning Bolt
Lightning Helix
Loxodon Warhammer
Magma Jet
Moldervine Cloak
Nature's Lore
Predator's Strike
Rancor
Ravages of War
Reckless Charge
Seal of Fire
Survival of the Fittest
Swords to Plowshares
Wax/Wane


Match-Ups:

5:3 vs RDW
3:1 vs UBW-Control (Dans GP-Top 20 Deck)
0:4 vs Tokenmania (Guardian's [HLL] Deck, GWr)
6:3 vs WW (Georgs early versions)
1:2 vs R/G-Beatz (Georgs GP-Top 8 Deck)
2:6 vs 5c-Control (Mythrandir's Deck)
9:4 vs Sliver (Guardians "famous" Sliver-Deck)
1:0 vs Big Red

Altogether 27:23

Some more statistics:

Average CC 2,40
Manalizer 44G, 23R, 21W
Spells: 13 Instants, 6 Sorceries, 4 Enchantments, 3 Auras, 3 Artifacts


I think about to add:

Mother of Runes
Magus of the Moon
Gaddock Teeg
Jötun Grunt

[Weller]

Heya,

haven't forgotten you, am not dead, just kinda had work and studying interfere with my free time/motivation for putting more thought in this. Anyways, thanks for all the replies, but to the specifics.

First and foremost: Price of Progress - Yeah.. thanks for pointing at the 1000 pound gorilla sitting right next to me blaring Wagner through its headphones or something similar like this. Let me just move on and never speak of this again.
Furthermore thanks for reassuring me on my stance towards moxen.

Lands (33)
(snip)

Vazdru, is there a specific reason for you not to run painlands? It just makes me wonder, when you find space for something like Llanowar Reborn which - no offence - seems less than ideal to me, but are somehow lacking Battlefield Forge and the rest of the bunch.

Creatures (38)
(snip)
Spells (29)
(snip)

Your approach seems slightly more based on Survival and a little more like a control deck, with cards like Eternal Witness and Flametongue Kavu. Is this just your way of having a better midrange to lategame or am I missing a larger point (again)?
In either case your decklist gave me some good inspirations and made me remember cards I might have missed otherwise, thanks!

And finally - thank you Mythrandir for your reply, I did not want to neglect you, it's just that your input was mostly covered by Vazdru's decklist.

[Mythrandir]

Heya,

haven't forgotten you, am not dead, just kinda had work and studying interfere with my free time/motivation for putting more thought in this. Anyways, thanks for all the replies, but to the specifics.

First and foremost: Price of Progress - Yeah.. thanks for pointing at the 1000 pound gorilla sitting right next to me blaring Wagner through its headphones or something similar like this. Let me just move on and never speak of this again.
Furthermore thanks for reassuring me on my stance towards moxen.

Lands (33)
(snip)

Vazdru, is there a specific reason for you not to run painlands? It just makes me wonder, when you find space for something like Llanowar Reborn which - no offence - seems less than ideal to me, but are somehow lacking Battlefield Forge and the rest of the bunch.

Creatures (38)
(snip)
Spells (29)
(snip)

Your approach seems slightly more based on Survival and a little more like a control deck, with cards like Eternal Witness and Flametongue Kavu. Is this just your way of having a better midrange to lategame or am I missing a larger point (again)?
In either case your decklist gave me some good inspirations and made me remember cards I might have missed otherwise, thanks!

And finally - thank you Mythrandir for your reply, I did not want to neglect you, it's just that your input was mostly covered by Vazdru's decklist.

i think painlands are not worthy playing.. with both old and new duals, i´m with vuzdru llanowar reborn seems better than a pain.

[Weller]

Well, seeing as the Grand Prix results pretty much prove the viability of Zoo, I somehow - all of a sudden - don't see the point of putting more work in this deck, as it is gonna be an established archetype no matter what.
(At least I will be able to compare my current list to Jörn Hintze's.)
Oh well, back to the drawing board