Zur the Enchanter

ck3gds · Joined: 21 Jun 2005 Posts: 244

OK before you slam this deck for being a pile, this is NOT meant to be competitive. Anyway here goes...my deck revolving Zur the Man.

4 Plains
6 Island
3 Swamp
3 Watery Grave
2 Godless Shrine
4 Hallowed Fountain
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse

4 Remand [Tempo counter]
4 Mana Leak [Soft counter]

4 Zur the Enchanter [The Man]

3 Shielding Plax [Protects Zur, cantrip]
4 Gelid Shackles [Creature control; tap GS for snow mana]
1 Phyrexian Arena [Card draw]
3 Genju of the Falls [Game plan 1: finish with flyers]
3 Genju of the Fields [Stalls creatures]
1 Copy Enchantment [Versatility]
4 Pillory of the Sleepless [Creature control; Game plan 2]
1 Honden of Infinite Rage [Game plan 3]
1 Honden of Seeing Winds [Card draw]

3 Azorius Signet [Mana fixer]

Other possible one-ofs - Ghostly Prison, Promise of Bunrei, Threads of Disloyalty

This deck is more focused towards controlling the board. I save my counters for noncreature spells, because I pack enough creature hate maindeck.

The red Honden might be a mistake, I might remove it, but until then it remains one of my backup plans.

The only problem I foresee might be burn decks and cards like Cranial Extraction.

If you have any constructive advice for me, do post them here. Thanks in advance! Very Happy

Spyx · Joined: 31 Oct 2004 Posts: 853

4 Wrath of God?

center425 · Joined: 06 May 2006 Posts: 370

i like it
I would have Ghostly Prison over the blue genju though

Synch- · Joined: 25 Jul 2006 Posts: 79

you only need 2 plax maximum, the same applies to genju of the falls
have some 1 ofs like threads of disloyalty and shackles is crap without snow mana, try frozen solid or pacifism

sonicqaz · Joined: 02 May 2006 Posts: 338

you can't tap Gelid Shackles for snow mana.

Also, you need more one of's with 4 Copy Enchantments.

Peace of mind is good to get rid on unneeded cards, and is tutorable by Zur.

The Honden's arent necessary. Blessing of the Nephilim on Zur makes Zur bigger.

Also, you probably want one Infiltrator's magemark in your deck so that Zur gets in every time. I play Clutch of the Undercity in mine as well so that I can transmute for Zur when needed.

den18 · Joined: 11 Oct 2004 Posts: 387

agreed on the copy enchantments I would make the deck more of a tutor type with 1 of's and 4 copy enchantments. Seal of doom should wrok well in there as well as mentioned before ghostly prison

ck3gds · Joined: 21 Jun 2005 Posts: 244

s0b3k · Joined: 13 Nov 2005 Posts: 20

snow mana is produced when you tap a snow permenant for mana, the permanent must have a mana ability

ck3gds · Joined: 21 Jun 2005 Posts: 244

So far thanks for your comments, really! Laughing

I'm trying my best not to go too deep into a third colour because then my mana base will be really taxed.

Anyway here's Zur the Man v1.1. Very Happy

4 Plains
6 Island
3 Swamp
3 Watery Grave
2 Godless Shrine
4 Hallowed Fountain
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse

4 Remand
4 Mana Leak

4 Zur the Enchanter

2 Shielding Plax [Down from 3]
3 Gelid Shackles [Down from 4]
1 Phyrexian Arena
2 Genju of the Falls [Down from 3]
3 Genju of the Fields
4 Copy Enchantment [Up from 1]
4 Pillory of the Sleepless
1 Threads of Disloyalty [Replaced Honden of Infinite Rage]
1 Blessing of the Nephilim [Replaced Honden of Seeing Winds; 4/7 Zur is no joke!]

3 Azorius Signet

I have not made any changes to the mana base so far. With regards to the Gelid Shackles, I will go look it up and decide whether to take it out. Thanks for highlighting this to me!

Actually can this deck ever be competitive in a T2 environment? Assuming I want to make it more competitive, what should I do? What would be suitable in the sideboard? More one-ofs?

s0b3k · Joined: 13 Nov 2005 Posts: 20

Gelid shackles are worthless... unless you just want zur to get thru in which case just get infiltrators magemark... its more effective.

super-gecko · Joined: 25 Feb 2006 Posts: 45

The pillories are enough, i think the shackles are too much, they just arent needed. Maybe those slots are better used for WOGs.

And what about a little tutoring fun with that dimir bounce for 4 that transmutes. Could tutor for WOG, Zur, maybe for a one off zurs weirding/nightmare void. After side transmutes to cranial. I think the deck would definetly benifit from that, for a little stability. Maybe a second blessing would be good, incase you need to up ur clock.
The genjus look a bit unneeded, as once uv got a Zur in play, ur opponents dead, and theres not really any need for other creatures.

Other then that this deck is almost possible, if it werent for the total creature-hatey meta...

ck3gds · Joined: 21 Jun 2005 Posts: 244

OK, Gelid Shackles can't make snow mana, so off it goes. Made space for some of the cards everyone suggested...presenting Zur the Man v1.2...

4 Plains
6 Island
3 Swamp
3 Watery Grave
2 Godless Shrine
4 Hallowed Fountain
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse

4 Remand
4 Mana Leak
1 Wrath of God
3 Clutch of the Undercity

3 Zur the Enchanter

2 Shielding Plax
1 Phyrexian Arena
2 Genju of the Falls
2 Genju of the Fields
4 Copy Enchantment
4 Pillory of the Sleepless
1 Threads of Disloyalty
1 Blessing of the Nephilim
1 Infiltrator's Magemark

3 Azorius Signet

Now I might have to tweak the mana base a bit more in favour of black. Anyway all I need to do now is to get a few games with this deck. Very Happy

In the meantime I'd love to hear more from everyone, thanks for the kind remarks and decent ideas! Wink

(I hope I'm not breaking any rules by updating my thread too often?)