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Building the Gauntlet - Zoo
August 5, 2016
 

Zoo is a popular deck in Goat Control. It is perhaps the most-seen alternative to the Standard Goat deck and is one of the most powerful decks in the format. Whereas Standard Goat wins by slowly generating advantage and picking its battles, Zoo’s gameplan is much more simple: drop beatsticks and force your opponent to deal with threats immediately.

 

When building your gauntlet, Zoo should be the first deck that you build, after Standard Goats of course, regardless of the deck you plan to run through the gauntlet. Zoo is the natural evolution of several old-school builds in Warrior Toolbox and Beastdown, fusing the two concepts into one raw, powerful deck. It has proven to be a good opposite to most Standard Goat builds, tech included. It eschews those slow, methodical advantage-generating cards for pure power and pressure. I think Jazz said it well when he said “it is the antithesis of the Standard Goat deck.” Zoo wants to put immediate, consistent pressure on the opponent, and fits well as a counter to the Standard Goat build. It’s a surprisingly viable strategy in modern Goat Format and one of the biggest threats you’re likely to face if you play online or IRL.

 

This article will tackle the deck in two parts: first, a brief overview about the deck, how it functions and what its power plays are. Second will be potential ways to counter it. The second part will be written mainly for Standard Goat players, as it’s the most popular deck in the format, though the cards I talk about can work in a variety of different decks.

 

Let’s take a look at a sample Zoo build:

 

Monsters - 17

2x Abyss Soldier

3x Berserk Gorilla

1x Breaker the Magical Warrior

2x D.D. Assailant

1x D.D. Warrior Lady

3x Exarion Universe

1x Exiled Force

1x Mystic Swordsman LV2

1x Sangan

1x Sinister Serpent

1x Tribe-Infecting Virus

 

Spells - 11

1x Delinquent Duo

1x Graceful Charity

1x Heavy Storm

1x Mystical Space Typhoon

2x Nobleman of Crossout

1x Pot of Greed

1x Premature Burial

2x Reinforcement of the Army

1x Snatch Steal

 

Traps - 12

1x Call of the Haunted

1x Dust Tornado

1x Mirror Force

1x Ring of Destruction

2x Sakuretsu Armor

3x Solemn Judgment

1x Torrential Tribute

2x Trap Dustshoot

 

Notice immediately how the deck runs all of zero Flip Effect monsters and only eleven Spells, but a whopping twelve Trap Cards. This is not surprising - advantage is gained on the field in the form of winning battles and maintained the same way. Maintaining constant board presence is the key to winning with Zoo, putting immediate and constant pressure in the form of high-ATK monsters. You want to try to keep your opponent’s monster zones clear to prevent cards like Airknight Parshath and Jinzo from stopping your aggression.

 

This is where the adapted Warrior Toolbox comes into play. Reinforcement of the Army searches for one-card outs to problems in the form of your three D.D. monsters, Exiled Force and Mystic Swordsman LV2. Those cards are powerful ways to continue to exert pressure without having to give up any sort of board presence. The D.D.’s can be used aggressively to pressure your opponent, but if your opponent does happen to be able to get over D.D. Assailant, Assailant will take whatever killed it with it to the banish pile. By using the sheer power of the Beasts and Beast-Warriors with the versatility of the Warrior toolbox, Zoo can completely dominate a match by outgunning their opponents.

 

Monsters in the deck come in two main varieties: outers, such as the Warriors and Abyss Soldier, and beaters, notably Berserk Gorilla and Exarion Universe. Abyss Soldier is an interesting choice, and one that really merits mention. Through my own personal testing I’m finding that, while situational, Abyss Soldier can help blow a game wide-open especially when combined with Sinister Serpent. It is an effective 1800 ATK beatstick as well, meaning it’ll likely last more than one turn on the board. It is a perfect compliment to the rest of the lineup and gives the deck extra outs to problem cards.

The Spell lineup gets rid of cards like Book of Moon (due to lack of Flips) and Scapegoat. These don’t generate any sort of plusses, hence the high Trap count. But its spells all generate some sort of advantage, either in the form of the Trinity or something like RotA. Reinforcements of the Army is a great toolbox card, giving you access to three different D.D. monsters, Exiled Force and Mystic Swordsman as means of spot removal. You can use RotA to clear problematic monsters like Jinzo and other high-ATK beaters without losing out on board presence, which is what this deck aims to do.

 

The Trap lineup is beefier than what you normally see in Goat Format, and this is to Zoo’s advantage. Solemn Judgment and Trap Dustshoot are incredibly potent additions, especially the former. Zoo can’t handle bigger beaters without having to spend resources to out them. Cards like Royal Decree and Jinzo also hurt the deck, as does backrow removal. As such, Judgment acts as the last line of defense, literally, for the deck; if a big beater comes out Judgment can negate the summon, and if the opponent drops Heavy, Judgment can protect your backrow reliably.

 

Trap Dustshoot is an aggressive choice in the deck as it gives you information and allows you to play the right monster at the right time. This is crucial, as the deck has a harder time functioning in the mid and late games. If the game becomes a grind, Zoo will often lose out to advantage alone, so long as the opponent is a decent player. This is the deck’s biggest weakness - if it fizzles out before the opponent is out of options, it’s almost an auto-lose. However, if both players are essentially top-decking, Zoo often comes out on top simply because of how versatile its monster lineup is.

 

So how do you beat it?

 

Luckily, Zoo can rarely OTK, about on par with Standard Goats, so fighting against it comes down more to how you play your cards and react to situations than actual side deck options. Zaborg the Thunder Monarch is a great out to this deck, as it gets over Berserk Gorilla and makes a lot of their monsters less potent. Most Standard Goat builds play few outs to the Gorilla’s 2000 ATK, so that’s a priority. Knowing that backrow is a factor, a card such as Royal Decree can seriously set them back as well, especially when combined with something like a Monarch in place of Parshath.

 

Another problem is the multiple Exarion Universes. Cards like Bottomless Trap Hole can help, as Zoo relies heavily on its normal summon, so getting ahead of the summon can make all the difference in the world against Zoo. Bottomless can stop most of its beaters from ever seeing the light of day, too, and even saw play back in 2005. It’s worth considering if you’re having trouble keeping up with Zoo’s inherent speed. Zoo is capable of putting a beater on board most every turn, and the last thing you want to see is a field full of monsters. Therefore, waiting for opportunities to grind out some plusses and striking when you see the deck starting to slow down is the real key to victory.

 

In terms of specific side options, Zaborg can be subbed in for Airknight to overcome problem monsters. Royal Decree can preempt their traps, notably Judgment, especially if you can drop it and protect it early in the game. Dust Tornado is a great counter to many of the traps you will see, too, stopping them before they ever have a chance to use them, but you should probably choose one over the other. A good move would be to side out Dust Tornado for Decree, though it depends on your playstyle and how you want to approach it.

 

Trap Dustshoot can also be used to overcome some of Zoo’s more problematic monsters. Shuffling them back into the deck may only delay their arrival, but you gain a lot of information and can formulate a better strategy to countering what they do. It’s a powerful card and a potent counter, especially if Zoo opens with only one or two monsters.

 

I recommend that you build it for yourself and test it. In my testing, I’ve found the deck to be surprisingly consistent with few real weaknesses. The trap lineup is usually enough to keep the monster count on board low, and the monster lineup allows you to put constant pressure on your opponent. The deck revels in your opponent making suboptimal plays to overcome your beaters, making them play right into your strategy through sheer lack of options. I’m actually surprised more people have yet to play Zoo. It’s competitive, reliable and a good alternative to Standard Goats.

 

That’s it for this week’s edition of Building the Gauntlet. Make sure to get out there and test and, most importantly, have fun with it! Hit me up at anteausonyugioh@gmail.com with questions or comments, and visit the Goat Format Official Thread here on the forums for more news and information about the format.

If you have questions or concerns, or would like to discuss Goats or anything else, feel free to contact me any time at anteausonyugioh@gmail.com. .

 

 

 
 


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