Blood moon effects are way better against bloom titan than just killing one land. Outside of pyroclasm or slaughter pact, they can't interact with a magus and without a seal of primordium they can't interact with a blood moon.
One of the big issues with small zoo compared to big zoo, is that with small zoo, if or when your opponent turns the corner against, you can't win. The deck has 0 late game. Big zoo has CC to refill and apply even more pressure and can find sideboard cards at instant speed. They only time I would play a small zoo deck would be if there was a lot of combo in the format, but even then I would prefer to play knightfall.
So I haven't posted here or even played modern recently at all, and I cannot play at GP Pittsburgh because of my classes; but I wanted to update everyone on some of my list and what I would have played at the GP if I could go.
This would be the second choice.
Voice is really good right now, while pridemage is slightly worse, but is still really important against affinity, tron, and twin.
I also really like Sigarda with the amount of grixis and BGx running around it is really hard to remove it.
Geist is really good if he goes unchecked, but is really awful if your opponent has blockers. He might just be bad at my store and meta game. There is not a lot of combo decks there and that's really where geist shines. I basically sided him out every time I was on the draw and kept him out against creature decks.
Round 1 Grixis delver 2-0. Staticaster was insane, same with negate
Round 2 Grixis control 0-2. Fetched wrong so I could not cast geist post damnation.
Round 3 Naya company 0-2. Flooded out when I really needed relevant spells
Round 4 Jund 2-0. Out drew them
Geist was really bad today. Probably just going back to 4 smiter.
Overall, I still really like retreat, it has been so good, I combo'd off delver at 1 life to kill him.
I wanted the deck to be faster with 4 warden, it may be right to play 2 drana over the sorin and a reave soul, but I need to test more with this version.
Yeah I don't think retreat is good against the heavy removal decks, or against burn. It really good against combo decks and creature decks, but really mediocre against targeted hand removal and burn spells.
Also as a note, I don't like blood moon against jund or junk, they can play around it too easily.
For your build, I might want to cut down the number of fetches because you're going to run out of targets pretty fast while trying to combo, by the looks of it. I think 8 fetches is fine for this deck. And how are the Thalias working out for you? I played them for a while back in Anafenza's Company, but I found they always just ate a bolt or Kola command right away and never really did much of anything.
I forgot to shave an arid mesa for a horizon canopy, that was the plan going in. So the next time I play with the deck that'll be the difference.
Also wanted to note that I forgot to include collected companies and edited it in there sense.
it definitely felt better than naya, I was already thinking of splashing blue before. Yes 3 missing cards were collected company, on my way to change that now.
Round 1 Turbo Fog 2-1, not going to comment on this match
Round 2 Affinity 2-1, Game 1 retreat was able to tap creatures and allow geist to hit in chunks. Game 3 Retreat was once again able to tap down attacker/blockers. Never combo'd.
Round 3 Junk 2-1, Game 1 Knight for wolf run kill. Game 3 retreat did major work in tapping voice of resurgences and getting insane value while forcing bad blocks.
Didn't like magus in the board, taking those out asap. Not sure what to replace them with yet.
Round 1 Turbo Fog 2-1, not going to comment on this match
Round 2 Affinity 2-1, Game 1 retreat was able to tap creatures and allow geist to hit in chunks. Game 3 Retreat was once again able to tap down attacker/blockers. Never combo'd.
Round 3 Junk 2-1, Game 1 Knight for wolf run kill. Game 3 retreat did major work in tapping voice of resurgences and getting insane value while forcing bad blocks.
Didn't like magus in the board, taking those out asap. Not sure what to replace them with yet.
One of the big issues with small zoo compared to big zoo, is that with small zoo, if or when your opponent turns the corner against, you can't win. The deck has 0 late game. Big zoo has CC to refill and apply even more pressure and can find sideboard cards at instant speed. They only time I would play a small zoo deck would be if there was a lot of combo in the format, but even then I would prefer to play knightfall.
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Arid Mesa
2 Stomping Ground
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Temple Garden
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Breeding Pool
1 Forest
1 Plains
1 Sejiri Steppe
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Horizon Canopy
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Voice of Resurgence
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Qasali Pridemage
4 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Loxodon Smiter
12 Spells
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
2 Retreat to Coralhelm
2 Collected Company
1 Grim Lavamancer
2 Kor Firewalker
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Stony Silence
2 Negate
1 Kataki, War's Wage
2 Aven Mindcensor
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Fracturing Gust
1 Bonfire of the Damned
This would be my first choice.
I like the idea of bant charm over collected company, but it doesn't feel right.
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Arid Mesa
2 Stomping Ground
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Temple Garden
2 Forest
1 Plains
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Ghost Quarter
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Voice of Resurgence
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Qasali Pridemage
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Loxodon Smiter
11 Spells
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
3 Collected Company
3 Kor Firewalker
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Stony Silence
1 Kataki, War's Wage
2 Magus of the Moon
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Blood Moon
1 Choke
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Bonfire of the Damned
This would be the second choice.
Voice is really good right now, while pridemage is slightly worse, but is still really important against affinity, tron, and twin.
I also really like Sigarda with the amount of grixis and BGx running around it is really hard to remove it.
3 pridemage, 1 lightning bolt and 3 geist. Also brought in the bonfire and 2 thalia
Geist is really good if he goes unchecked, but is really awful if your opponent has blockers. He might just be bad at my store and meta game. There is not a lot of combo decks there and that's really where geist shines. I basically sided him out every time I was on the draw and kept him out against creature decks.
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Arid Mesa
2 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Breeding Pool
1 Sejiri Steppe
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Forest
1 Plains
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Qasali Pridemage
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Loxodon Smiter
13 Spells
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Path to Exile
3 Retreat to Coralhelm
3 Collected Company
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Kor Firewalker
3 Negate
2 Stony Silence
1 Kataki, War's Rage
2 Aven Mindcensor
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Bonfire of the Damned
Round 1 Grixis delver 2-0. Staticaster was insane, same with negate
Round 2 Grixis control 0-2. Fetched wrong so I could not cast geist post damnation.
Round 3 Naya company 0-2. Flooded out when I really needed relevant spells
Round 4 Jund 2-0. Out drew them
Geist was really bad today. Probably just going back to 4 smiter.
Overall, I still really like retreat, it has been so good, I combo'd off delver at 1 life to kill him.
4 Sandsteppe Citadel
4 Shambling Vent
4 Llanowar Wastes
3 Caves of Koilos
4 Windswept Heath
2 Canopy Vista
2 Forest
1 Plains
1 Swamp
22 Creatures
4 Warden of the First Tree
4 Rakshasa Deathdealer
4 Hangarback Walker
3 Anafenza, the Foremost
4 Siege Rhino
3 Wingmate Roc
3 Dromoka's Command
2 Reave Soul
4 Abzan Charm
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
1 Murderous Cut
15 Sideboard
3 Duress
2 Transgress the Mind
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
1 Tragic Arrogance
3 Self-Inflicted Wound
2 Surge of Righteousness
1 Painful Truths
1 Evolutionary Leap
1 Valorous Stance
I wanted the deck to be faster with 4 warden, it may be right to play 2 drana over the sorin and a reave soul, but I need to test more with this version.
Also the sideboard is still a work in progress.
Also as a note, I don't like blood moon against jund or junk, they can play around it too easily.
I forgot to shave an arid mesa for a horizon canopy, that was the plan going in. So the next time I play with the deck that'll be the difference.
Also wanted to note that I forgot to include collected companies and edited it in there sense.
I love negate so I always play 3 if I can.
Played this to a 3-0 tonight:
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Arid Mesa
2 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Breeding Pool
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Sejiri Steppe
1 Forest
1 Plains
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Qasali Pridemage
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Loxodon Smiter
10 Spells
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Path to Exile
3 Retreat to Coralhelm
3 Collected Company
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Kor Firewalker
2 Stony Silence
1 Kataki, War's Rage
3 Negate
2 Magus of the Moon
2 Aven Mindcensor
1 Bonfire of the Damned
Round 1 Turbo Fog 2-1, not going to comment on this match
Round 2 Affinity 2-1, Game 1 retreat was able to tap creatures and allow geist to hit in chunks. Game 3 Retreat was once again able to tap down attacker/blockers. Never combo'd.
Round 3 Junk 2-1, Game 1 Knight for wolf run kill. Game 3 retreat did major work in tapping voice of resurgences and getting insane value while forcing bad blocks.
Didn't like magus in the board, taking those out asap. Not sure what to replace them with yet.
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Arid Mesa
2 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Breeding Pool
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Sejiri Steppe
1 Forest
1 Plains
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Qasali Pridemage
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Loxodon Smiter
10 Spells
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Path to Exile
3 Retreat to Coralhelm
3 Collected Company
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Kor Firewalker
2 Stony Silence
1 Kataki, War's Rage
3 Negate
2 Magus of the Moon
2 Aven Mindcensor
1 Bonfire of the Damned
Round 1 Turbo Fog 2-1, not going to comment on this match
Round 2 Affinity 2-1, Game 1 retreat was able to tap creatures and allow geist to hit in chunks. Game 3 Retreat was once again able to tap down attacker/blockers. Never combo'd.
Round 3 Junk 2-1, Game 1 Knight for wolf run kill. Game 3 retreat did major work in tapping voice of resurgences and getting insane value while forcing bad blocks.
Didn't like magus in the board, taking those out asap. Not sure what to replace them with yet.
Edit: Forgot collected company