Last year I had a great time at the Modern tournament of Relic Fest, so I’ve decided to go again this year. I figured it would be worth showing up with a more competitive deck and having a shot at winning more rounds than last year (I won just one out of 8) and to keep growing in the format.
Over the past few months I’ve put a good chunk of my MTG budget toward building a meta deck, specifically: Domain Zoo. At its core, Domain Zoo is an aggro deck with a mana base that tries to have all 5 basic land types (domain) in play as early as possible, and plays very efficient creatures (high power, low cost) that take advantage of that synergy.
With the arrival of Leyline of the Guildpact in Murders at Karlov Manor (MKM) , a good opening hand gives Domain Zoo all 5 basic land types on turn one. Pair that with Scion of Draco , a 4/4 flyer you cast for that grants vigilance, hexproof, lifelink, first strike, and trample to all your creatures, and Domain Zoo had firmly established itself among the most powerful decks in the format.
The problem is that on May 18th, WotC announced new bans affecting Modern: Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury and Lotus Field are now banned, while Violent Outburst and Umezawa's Jitte are legal again. As you might imagine, Domain Zoo was running 4 copies of Phlage, which together with Doorkeeper Thrull and Arena of Glory was working beautifully.
As a result, Domain Zoo has dropped from roughly 8% of the meta to below 2%, signaling that the deck is no longer considered the solid option it once was. A lot can still happen between now and the end of October: three new sets will be released and introduce more cards to the format ( Marvel Super Heroes (MSH) , The Hobbit (HOB) and Reality Fracture (FRA) ), and there could be further changes in the bans list that would shake things up even more.
So: now what?
I’ve seen versions of Domain Zoo running Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger to minimize the changes, and others pivoting toward more midrange builds with Psychic Frog , Quantum Riddler and/or Orcish Bowmasters . Some players have even funneled Boros Energy leftovers (by far the Modern list that was hit the hardest by the Phlage ban) into Domain Zoo with great success!
Honestly, seeing Psychic Frog (probably my favorite creature) in Domain Zoo makes me very happy as I’ve always wanted to play it. But for now I think I’ll wait and see if the dust settles a bit before heading over Cardmarket…