1. Introduction
Welcome!
If you happen to look at this deck in detail, you might be able to spot the ongoing theme. I am a huge fan of all (most) Dan Hipp variants and am on the quest of figuring out the best deck that can be built with using only cards that have his variant.
This deck is one of many decks I am working on and I must say it's my most successful (most playable) one so far. The Dan Hipp decks I am creating are more toolboxes than a complete deck as you can see by the big amount of suggested cards. You can adjust cards as you see fit, depending on if you own the variants or cards or depending on what you seem most fitting to your play-style.
2. Cards
2.1. Essential Cards
2.1.1. Win conditions
The two MOST essential cards are KaZar and Blue Marvel and I can't imagine how you could make this zoo deck work without them. You preferably draw them early enough so you can play them on turn 4 and 5 respectively, empowering your already existing low cost-cards. This leaves your final turn on which you can finish off the game by dropping your final big boi or a bunch of other small cards that can then get KaZars and Blue Marvels buff.
2.1.2. Big Bois
There are two (and a half) 'big boi' cards which you can choose to put in your deck.
Ultron is my preferred choice as he, together with KaZar and Blue Marvel (or sometimes only one) can win you the game alone. Dropping Ultron on the final turn, suddenly adding 8 to 12 power on each other location is huge, and depending on priority also plays around Killmonger, which is the biggest threat to this deck.
Onslaught is the other option. If you drop him on the same location as KaZar and Blue Marvel, you double their effect, essentially giving all your other locations +4 to 8 power and even adding a couple more power on Onslaughts location. I personally don't like Onslaught as much as Ultron because you can get completely destroyed by Killmonger or Enchantress, which is still a risk when running Ultron, but it is highly reduced.
The final half big boi is Shanna. Shanna is (as of writing this) a pool 5 card so hello to the one person that actually owns her. If you add Shanna I would probably replace her with any 6-cost and run her with KaZar and Blue Marvel, as you otherwise don't have enough Energy anyways. She seems like a good card to drop on the final turn for some extra 1-cost, together with two more 1-costs of course.
If you do actually have Shanna, you may also want to consider adding Zabu, Dazzler and Wong to get more value from Zabu and double Shanna's on reveal effect. But hey, now this is turning into a Zabu deck! So let's get back on track.
2.2. Tech Cards
2.2.1. Defensive Options
Cosmo is probably one of the most essential defensive tech options. His power can be incredible if played correctly, and only really messes up your Ultron which can easily be avoided. The two main threats to your deck are Killmonger or Enchantress and Cosmo can counter both (although Killmonger can be really hard to predict). Simply play KaZar and Blue Marvel on the same lane as Cosmo and they're safe. I personally really recommend running him + his Dan Hipp variant is gorgeous.
Goose is an interesting defensive tech card which can be quite useful versus quite some decks. It locks down a location which means you will have to play your win conditions on another location, but means you can spam your small cards there without the fear of being overrun by big cards at that location. I used to run it for a while but didn't see too much benefit from playing it.
Beast is a wonderful option which is both defensive and offensive which is why I also highly recommend using it. He is preferably played on turn 3 which means you can play three 1-cost cards (1 on turn one and 2 on turn 2) on one location and then play beast on that location. You would obviously want to combine this with the on reveal 1 cost cards to get extra value, but is not necessary. This play allows you to counter Killmonger (try to be ahead in the game so your enemy can't play Killmonger before you on turn 3. You can achieve that by playing your two 1-cost cards on two different locations, and then add the third 1-cost to the same location as you play the beast at it). Beast also works great together with Bishop or Wolfsbane!
2.2.2. Offensive Options
Bishop got his Dan Hipp variant only very recently and it looks brilliant! He's a good offensive option and can help you win a lane even if your 1-cost cards happen to get Killmongered. With a good Beast play he stands around being a 3/6, similar to a Wolfsbane at a full locoation, but he gives you the option to add power to him if his location is locked down and more.
As mentioned just now Wolfsbane is another good offensive option, allowing you to benefit off of spamming one location with a bunch of small cards. It's a really solid card that can go a log way.
Debrii is a bit of an odd one and I wouldn't really recommend adding her. Her benefits are cluttering up your opponents field and adding some bodies to yours to buff up, but with seeing a lot of patriot decks and simply not getting too much value from a 3/3 and two rocks, I simply advice against her.
Adam Warlock can be good if you want to consistently draw your win streak but would only work if you also have Ultron in your deck as you otherwise can't fill your board up enough. Sometimes it can be frustrating to play him on a location just to then get overrun and essentially waste a spot and waste 2 energy, but I think he has a decent place in this deck if played right.
Lastly there is Lockjaw which just has a beautiful looking Variant. I kind of like running Lockjaw sometimes, but maybe that's just because of my gambling addiction. You have a lot of small bodies in your deck which doesn't give you that much value most of the times (except for some extra on reveals) but whenever you do manage to pull out an early KaZar or Blue Marvel, it makes it worth it just for that. I wouldn't really recommend running Lockjaw alongside Ultron as that can kind of block you from playing anything else very early on.
3. Closing words
I was considering on writing about how to play the deck, but there are so many different play-styles you can craft yourself with these cards, so just try to find some card combination that suits you and enjoy playing the most beautiful Zoo Deck anyone may ever see.