Into the Vault: Zur the Enchanter

Written by Christian Gil Portugalisa

        The Cebu Commander Community has certainly grown. I'm happy to see new Commanders and new deck builds from casual to competitive. Last week we released an article on Combo and I would like to piggy back on that article and talk about a very strong commander: Zur, the Enchanter.

        There are a few ways to build around this commander from a fast combo and storm strategy to a more control-based enchantment lock down build. We will talk about the latter once we have released our Control and Stax article so definitely watch out for it.

The Commander

        A 4-CMC (converted mana cost) 1/4 flying creature really does not look very enticing for a lot of players. What makes this commander so powerful is its ability to search for an enchantment and basically "cheat" it to play. And yes, any enchantment whose converted mana cost is 3 or less. You might be wondering, that ain't much. What enchantments can you possibly get that can make a big difference in a game of Commander? Well, take a look at these enchantments:

     

        What makes Zur the Enchanter different from other enchantment based strategy is that this deck only has three enchantments. Wait what? You heard me, three enchantments. This deck is more of an artifact heavy efficient mana rock deck with a combo finish.

The Decklist

 

     

       

29 Lands
1 Adarkar Wastes
1 Caves of Koilos
1 City of Brass
1 Command Tower
1 Dromar's Cavern
1 Esper Panorama
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Hallowed Fountain
10 Island
1 Morphic Pool
1 Myriad Landscape
1 Sea of Clouds
3 Swamp
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Underground River
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Watery Grave

5 Creatures
1 Etherium Sculptor
1 Laboratory Maniac
1 Notion Thief
1 Shimmer Myr
1 Walking Ballista

66 Spells
1 Ad Nauseam
1 Aetherflux Reservoir
1 Angel's Grace
1 Arcane Denial
1 Astral Cornucopia
1 Azorius Signet

     

   

   

     

       

1 Beseech the Queen
1 Brainstorm
1 Cabal Ritual
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Counterspell
1 Cryptic Command
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Dark Deal
1 Dark Petition
1 Dark Ritual
1 Darkwater Egg
1 Deprive
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Dimir Signet
1 Doomsday
1 Dramatic Reversal
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Fabricate
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Forbid
1 Frantic Search
1 Gitaxian Probe
1 Grasp of Fate
1 Gush
1 Helm of Awakening
1 High Tide
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Impulse
1 Isochron Scepter
1 Lim-Dûl's Vault
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Leak

   

 

     

       

1 Mind Stone
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Mystic Remora
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Necropotence
1 Negate
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Paradoxical Outcome
1 Ponder
1 Preordain
1 Prismatic Lens
1 Quicken
1 Rain of Filth
1 Sculpting Steel
1 Search for Azcanta
1 Silence
1 Skycloud Egg
1 Sol Ring
1 Spell Pierce
1 Swan Song
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Talisman of Dominance
1 Talisman of Progress
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Windfall

   

 

        I know what your thinking, where's the fetch lands? Where are the expensive mana rocks? Where are Demonic and Vampiric tutors? Well, I intentionally did not include them in this list. I wanted to show here that the deck is still competitive and can be within budget. Let me know in the comments if you want to get my competitive EDH list.

Gameplay

        There are currently 3 different competitive lists for Zur the Enchanter. Shimmer Zur, Doomsday Zur and Zuran Consultation. The game plan for each deck is pretty similar. They either go with the Doomsday Route, Necropotence Route or the Ad Nauseum Route.

 

Ad Nauseum and Angel's Grace

        This is our primary win condition. Ad Nauseam allows us to draw our entire deck at the cost of life. This limits our ability though since in a game of commander, your opponents won't just sit there and look pretty. They will most likely attack you and lower down your life. To mitigate the life loss and help draw your entire deck, we cast Angel's Grace in response to casting Ad Nauseam. Now you have your entire library in your hand. More cards, mean more options.

   

Zur the Enchanter, Necropotence and Shimmer Myr

        One card combo with your commander. This is our plan B. When our commander attacks, we can then search for Necropotence. With Necropotence in play, we can pay X life and basically draw X cards. Our commander doesn't even have to deal damage for you to search for an enchantment. The ability triggers on attack not on damage. That is an awesome ability.

        There is a reason why Necropotence was banned in Standard and in Extended format when it was still available. It is Banned in legacy and restricted in Vintage. This card is powerful. There is one drawback to this card. You draw cards at the beginning of your next end step and we won't be able to play our artifacts during our mainstep. Discarding cards is bad since we are exiling them instead. This is where Shimmer Myr shines. Shimmer Myr allows us to play all our artifacts spells at instant speed.

        Our opponents are smart. They found a way to stop our Ad Nauseam combo and made sure that Zur is out of commission. What do we do then? Are we dead in the water?

 

Doomsday and Laboratory Maniac

        We still have 2 more combos that we can fall back on. Doomsday into Laboratory maniac is one big interaction. If you like puzzles, you will like Doomsday. There are so many Doomsday piles you can use to guarantee a win. I won't talk about them in this deck tech but if want to learn more about it, let me know in the comments below.

   

Dramatic Reversal, Isochron Scepter and Walking Ballista

        This is our last combo. You can produce unbounded amounts of mana with mana rocks and Dramatic Reversal imprinted to Isochron Scepter. Once you have a lot of mana, you can then use it to cast a huge Walking Ballista and end the game.

Conclusion

        Zur the Enchanter is one of the most powerful competitive commanders out there. It is also one of the most skill intensive commanders I have every played. Just like what Jeff stated in his article The Boogeyman archtype Combo, it takes time and a lot of set up to be able to combo off. Sometimes, the deck doesn't want you to win. Sometimes your opponents seem to just have all the answers to your spells. Somtimes you have everything you need and win instantly. What matters most is that you and your opponents have fun. Remember, there can only be ONE!