Introduction
I've decided to revisit some of my older decks and give them some much needed touch up and Zoo is one of the earliest archetypes new players will come into contact with in Pool 1 which will help them gather those collection levels by upgrading these cards while they're at their prime - the archetype slowly falls out of favor in Pool 2 due to Killmonger.
Game plan
The general strategy of the deck is to flood the board with cheap cards and buff them with Ka-Zar and/or Blue Marvel, while at times we can take advantage of Strong Guy by emptying the hand on turn 6. The deck is quite easy to pick up, but there are some things to take note of during gameplay.
Generally, you don't have to play anything on turn 1, the curve is low enough to support it, but try to get Korg or Nightcrawler out on the board as soon as possible. You may want to hold off on playing Nightcrawler if you're already holding Angela as you can play him on her location and move him away for an additional buff on her.
The priority for the following turns is to play on curve, therefore Angela, Bishop (Cosmo if not in hand), Ka-Zar (Strong Guy if he's not in hand), Blue Marvel and on the final turn you can unload your 1-drops as necessary (or Strong Guy, but only if you can empty your hand).
Of course, it will not always work out this way so you'll have to be flexible and adapt to the situation at hand.
Card suggestions
If you're missing any of the 1-drops you can always swap in Hawkeye, Misty Knight, Rocket Raccoon, Iron Fist or Yondu.
For any missing 3-drop, you can use Captain America, The Punisher or Mister Fantastic as a substitute.
Consider running Iron Man if Strong Guy's missing from your collection.
Decklist
The deck includes the following cards:
- Ant-Man, shouldn't be played on turn 1. I recommend getting him out later and put him behind Cosmo with his other Ongoing friends (to protect them from an enemy Elektra/Enchantress).
- Elektra is here to snipe a 1-drop and swing a location in your favor on the last turn, very solid way to win Mojoworld.
- Squirrel Girl is also one of those 1-drops which like to be played on the final turn as she can provide up to 9 power across the locations, just remember to leave open slots accordingly.
- Korg is great as he'll be disrupting your opponent's draws slightly.
- Nightcrawler, very flexible, can win you locations such as Sanctum Sanctorum or Death's Domain Play on the same location as Angela to potentially grow her to 8 power after moving him away if she's in your starting hand. Otherwise just play on turn 1.
- Blade will be usually played on the last turn to activate Strong Guy, can also drop him behind Cosmo for tempo if you're not pressed for his ability. If Mindscape is active, you can also play him on turn 5 with a bunch of 1 drops and deny the last card in your hand.
- Angela, the best 2 drop in the game, scales incredibly well.
- Bishop, play on curve and watch him grow.
- Cosmo, every player's best friend, will protect your lane of choice from those pesky On Reveal effects and ruin Odin's day. You can however replace him with anything your heart desires if you feel like not running this tech card.
- Ka-Zar and Blue Marvel will help you push power throughout the locations, be careful about stacking them at the same one without protection, lest you suffer the wrath of Enchantress. Play them on curve.
- On a perfect day you'll drop Strong Guy on the final turn (or on 4 if you have nothing better to play) and empty your hand. 10 power can help you swing almost any lane if you're smart about it. Remember, no need to force him if you have stronger (pun not intended, I'm not sorry) plays on the last turn.
Snapping
The Snap is an interesting mechanic which makes your matches similar to games of Poker. Meaning, knowing when to fold (retreat) or double down by snapping will heavily impact the amount of cubes you'll be gaining. It also means that while I'm in love with the game, I wouldn't recommend playing it if you're struggling with gambling addiction.
Snap in the midgame if you look at your hand, can already see your endgame and you like it - depending on the matchup - is the short answer on when to snap.
I'll go over some general rules I try to stick to which may help out players maximize cube gains and minimize losses, as I see a lot of them using this mechanic in questionable ways.
- Never snap before all the locations are revealed is probably the first one I adhere to. Therefore, turn 3 should be the first moment when you ought to consider snapping as you never know whether that final location will turn out to be Ego, Worldship or a location which supercharges the opponent's archetype and the whole game plan just flies out of the window. Not to mention, the opponent also has agency and will use it by playing Storm, Scarlet Witch, Aero, Magneto, etc. That also brings me to the second rule.
- I don't recommend snapping until you've figured out what archetype the opponent's playing. This can delay your decision to do so by a turn or two, but you could have the best hand in the game, but a disruptive deck doesn't care about that. This leads us to the next point.
- Watch the game, take note of what and where the opponent's setting up their plays. To be honest, this is probably the most complicated one as it requires a broader knowledge of the archetypes and it will take some time to gain enough experience. If you've considered all the options and are feeling comfortable, go ahead and snap before locking in your play on turn 5 at latest - the reason to do so is related to the next rule. The same goes for when you're feeling behind and the opponent snaps on turn 5, there's always the option to retreat. Also, if you've accepted a snap earlier or have snapped yourself, it is not wrong to retreat if you see an unfavorable outcome. No need to feel obligated to commit just because there's more than 1 cube on the line as losing 1 or 2 cubes doesn't matter in the long run as they can be replaced easily by winning just a single match.
- Never snap on the final turn. This is probably the most common thing I see when playing, the math is mostly on the table on the final turn. Be it a close game or they're ahead, the opponent snaps. Best case scenario; it may occasionally cheat out 4 cubes from a less experienced player. What it usually ends up achieving is a retreat in a close game where the other party would stay in for those 2 cubes (because now they know that they've managed to draw their finisher and people are very rarely bluffing on the final turn), making a loss of 1 cube. Worst case scenario; the finisher's been anticipated, countered and you make a loss of 4 or more cubes.
- I'll dub this one 'Avoid bad snaps', it's about snapping before making a play of small significance. One of my favorite examples is snapping when playing Armor on Nova or The Hood. Remember that the opponent has 11 more cards in their deck, was also just informed about the 'big counter' and will likely adjust accordingly.
Final thoughts
Don't be afraid to make your own mistakes and learn from them, that's how most of us getter better.
Also consider trying the other deck archetypes such as Devil Dino, Odin and Ongoing - they are all quite consistent in Pool 1. And once you get enough cards to support their early versions you can try Discard and Move as well even if they're a bit on the clunky side until you get into Pool 2.
Have fun!