MTG Salvation

I'm building a deck for a 1v1 tournament using the WotC banlist at my lgs. Players start with 40 life. The winner takes home a box of From the Vault: 20.

This is my first attempt at a Zur deck. Do you think I'm missing any cards?

The deck currently has the following cards normally banned in Duel Commander: Ancient Tomb, Strip Mine, Sol Ring, Necropotence, Mind Twist, Serra Ascendant, and Vampiric Tutor.

Many of my counterspells were chosen as hard counters that work on an Isochron Scepter.

I added Bitterblossom because of Zur. Good?

Thanks very much!

Cut Arcanis and Wurmcoil and add Sun Titan. No matter how you slice it, Sun Titan is a monster in Zur

I just realized that Condemn would be pretty amazing since we're not playing with Duel Commander rules. Right? What other cards are good at tucking a commander in a library?

I don't currently have any graveyard hate in the deck. Rest in Peace and Bojuka Bog seem like two good options. Or I could just hope the locals won't be using their graveyards. So far the local players I've seen aren't using their graveyards much.

Quote from Bauhom

Many of my counterspells were chosen as hard counters that work on an Isochron Scepter.

What? Your not playing Remand? If you care about Isochron scepter this is arguably the best counterspell to put on it. Mana Leak is still way better than Countersquall.

This deck has a lot of poopy cards and weird tangential stategies.
Why Animate Dead? You are playing 8 creatures. In that vein why are you playing 8 creatures? Arcanis the Omnipotent is bad. Replace with another counterspell or Weathered Wayfarer. You hardly need win-more creatures like Wurmcoil Engine. I'd rather see a Rest in Peace Helm of Disobediance combo. Bribery, Sphinx's Revelation, and any card draw that costs more than 1 should be removed. You are playing Necropotence. You can tutor for Necro-Freaking-potence. You give no crap about these weaklings.

You're lacking the actually useful counterspells. Dispel, Spell Pierce, Flusterstorm, and maybe even Daze. Take out weak cards like Esper Charm and Echoing Truth. The only thing that matters is swinging with Zur once. You get Necropotence and you win. End of story.

You are also missing the two best auras for Zur himself: Pemmin's Aura and Vanishing. Take out Diplomatic Immunity and Prison Term for these.

Finally, Mana Vault and Mana Crypt basically act as 2 extra copies of Sol Ring for accelerating out Zur.

Thanks, Clucky.

Animate Dead is (was) there because of Zur. Being able to steal from my opponent's graveyard, reanimate one of my own, or even reanimate Zur if he's been cast too many times is why I put it in.

I'm not sure I like Pemmin's Aura more than Diplomatic Immunity since DI can't be targeted, but Vanishing is definitely one I need to find room for. I guess that makes Diplomatic Immunity redundant.

Mana Vault is one I'm considering, although without too many big spells I'm not sure I'd get a lot of value out of it. It would be great with Mind Twist and Argentum Armor though.

I'll give it some thought on the counterspells.

I like Arcanis a lot, but then again I've never played with Necropotence, so I guess that makes Arcanis a lot less useful.

Quote from Bauhom

Thanks, Clucky.

Animate Dead is there because of Zur. Being able to steal from my opponent's graveyard, reanimate Snapcaster or Vendilion Clique, or even reanimate Zur if he's been cast too many times is why I put it in.

I'm not sure I like Pemmin's Aura more than Diplomatic Immunity since DI can't be targeted, but Vanishing is definitely one I need to find room for.

Mana Vault is one I'm considering, although without too many big spells (particularly if I take out Arcanis and/or Sphinx's) I'm not sure I'd get a lot of value out of it. It would be great with Mind Twist and Argentum Armor though.

I'll give it some thought on the counterspells.

I like Arcanis a lot, but then again I've never played with Necropotence, so I guess that makes Arcanis a lot less useful.

Pemmin's Aura + Vanishing is far superior to DI. Pemmin's Aura gives Vigilance and a lightning fast clock.

Mana Vault and Mana Crypt are there ONLY to bust Zur out faster. Like you said, I don't think you realize how much a t3 tutorable Necropotence warps games. Necropotence is the best black spell ever printed. In all of Magic the Gathering. Let that sink in. And that was in a 20 life format. You should be paying 20+ life over the course of game and feeling great about it. You don't need Argentum Armor. You don't need anything but your sweet, sweet Necropotence (kidding, you need spells to play obviously).

To go with this I missed some stuff earlier:
Dark Ritual - Auto include if your playing mind twist. Swamp, Dark Ritual, Sol Ring, Mind Twist doesn't even seem fair.

Reliquary Tower - You know whats better than drawing all those cards? Keeping them!

Spellbook - See above

Venser's Journal - This is honestly a wincon for this deck. You get to pay 20 life with necropotence, keep the cards, and gain all the life back.

Hall of the Bandit Lord - Included in every Zur deck ever, get that Necropotence out faster!!!

Rest in Peace and Helm of Obedience - Play these, activate for x=1 and win! But how can we find them quickly... If only we had Necropotence...

Armageddon, Cataclysm, Catastrophe, Sunder, and any other Esper colored mass land removal cards that you can think of should be considered.

When you resolve Zur, you're done casting cards. Land destruction makes sure that your opponent is done as well.

Nice, Clucky. I found room for Venser's Journal (so sweet), Hall of the Bandit Lord, Dispel, Mana Leak, Rest in Peace, and Helm of Obedience.

Quote from Mockingbird

Armageddon, Cataclysm, Catastrophe, Sunder, and any other Esper colored mass land removal cards that you can think of should be considered.

When you resolve Zur, you're done casting cards. Land destruction makes sure that your opponent is done as well.

LD is probably better for Duel Commander Zur. Its extraneous an d unnecessary when you have a hand full of counterspells.

Quote from Bauhom

Nice, Clucky. I found room for Venser's Journal (so sweet), Hall of the Bandit Lord, Dispel, Mana Leak, Rest in Peace, and Helm of Obedience.

Thanks, man! But this is where I'm gonna give you this face and ask what's coming out for Pemmin's Aura, Spell Pierce and Remand. All in all looking really solid! With some smart play and a lil luck this looks like tournament winner right here!

Where is the Solitary Confinement?

Quote from Clucky

Thanks, man! But this is where I'm gonna give you this face and ask what's coming out for Pemmin's Aura, Spell Pierce and Remand. All in all looking really solid! With some smart play and a lil luck this looks like tournament winner right here!

Haha. I'm just liking Steel of the Godhead more than Pemmin's Aura. Vanishing helps protect Zur, and the other abilities on Pemmin's don't seem as useful to me.

Yeah I need to find a place for Remand. I'll work on that.

Spell Pierce I might be able to find room for. Then again, it's not that good on an Isochron Scepter. That's been my litmus test on counter spells. Maybe it is more useful overall than Dispel, though. Hm. Spell Pierce > Dispel?

Maybe take out Bitterblossom for Pemmin's?

Quote from Malpheas

Where is the Solitary Confinement?

Pretty nice with Necropotence, isn't it?

Quote from ASpacemanIam

Cut Arcanis and Wurmcoil and add Sun Titan. No matter how you slice it, Sun Titan is a monster in Zur

Done.

Quote from Bauhom

Haha. I'm just liking Steel of the Godhead more than Pemmin's Aura. Vanishing helps protect Zur, and the other abilities on Pemmin's don't seem as useful to me.

Yeah I need to find a place for Remand. I'll work on that.

Spell Pierce I might be able to find room for. Then again, it's not that good on an Isochron Scepter. That's been my litmus test on counter spells. Maybe it is more useful overall than Dispel, though. Hm. Spell Pierce > Dispel?

I think your misunderstanding. Spell Pierce is something you can use on turns 1-4 to either protect Zur or deny your opponent a game-altering card like Survival of the Fittest or even their own Necropotence. Isochron Scepter is not a card I would play before getting Zur out (and therefore getting Necropotence out), its one you play after you draw a bunch of cards to help you protect a game winning combo. At that point you are gonna have a ton of counterspells to choose from, so you don't NEED every counterspell to be worthy of a scepter. So Spell Pierce should be played alongside Dispel. You can cut another card, like Bribery or Arrest for it.

Quote from Bauhom

Maybe take out Bitterblossom for Pemmin's?

Probably not. Bitterblossom's only worthy replacement is another counterspell. I doubt you win any games with Bitterblossom, but it gives you another threat for your opponent to counter before you try to drop Zur. But as Leroy stated earlier, Pemmin's aura isn't often a necessity. But compared to Steel of the Godhead, it wins on all fronts in my book.

Quote from Leroy

In non-French commander, combo Zur is the way to go for me, I run 0 aura's and Zur is is there pretty much only for Necropotence. From there, you you go for an instant win combo, for example RIP/Helm of Obedience or, what I'm using, Ad Nauseam/Phyrexian Unlife->Laboratory Maniak. You need usually two swings with Zur to win, but as soon as you swung once and got Necro, the second attack isn't that hard since you've drawn like 20 cards right away to ensure Zur is safe. No big spells, just Necropotence, tutors, a winning combo and the rest is just esper control.

I can totally see that, and I'd probably play an aura-less deck too. I suggested some of these Auras because I wasn't sure how comfortable or experienced the OP was with Zur and playing the combos. The auras provide a great backup plan if something goes wrong and only take 2-3 spots in the deck. I prefer RIP/Helm to LabManiac because I feel its harder to disrupt or lose of off.

Good stuff, guys. What other tutors could I run here? Fabricate would work for the helm.

Thoughts on Seal of Cleansing vs. Aura of Silence? Fwiw, white is the color I have the least mana of. But I'm leaning towards Aura, obviously because of Zur.

Cards like Spellbook and Venser's Journal are terribad. This is a deck that can create an unloseable game state within 3 combat steps. Stop wasting your time with anything else. Even Necro is superfluous if you can get a Vanishing on Zur with mana to activate it (every time you swing with him the first time). Keep in mind, all Auras phase out with him.

Quote from Beware

Cards like Spellbook and Venser's Journal are terribad. This is a deck that can create an unloseable game state within 3 combat steps. Stop wasting your time with anything else. Even Necro is superfluous if you can get a Vanishing on Zur with mana to activate it (every time you swing with him the first time). Keep in mind, all Auras phase out with him.

Why is Spellbook bad? Obviously its not a card I'd like to see in my opener, but for 0 mana it gives you a way to hold all those Necro draws.

Are you honestly suggesting tutoring Vanishing first? While Duel Commander Zur usually wins through attacking with Zur, Necropotence completely outmodes this strategy. If you go and get Necropotence and then Zur dies, so what. You can easily recast him with all the stuff you are drawing, or potentially just win off of drawing into combo pieces. If you go and get Vanishing and then Zur dies, you are screwed.

If you tutor Vanishing first, how is Zur dying???

Quote from Beware

If you tutor Vanishing first, how is Zur dying???

Not having double blue (or quadruple blue if your opponent has 2 spells), Sudden Death, being tapped out from casting with Hall of the Bandit Lord, Zur phasing to not die from blocks and getting removed in response.

But all these are besides the point. How is getting Vanishing better than Necropotence. Necropotence wins the game, Vanishing just gives you an unkillable Zur. If you get Vanishing first, you are just going to get Necropotence second. So why not just get the useful one first? Once necropotence is out the deck barely needs Zur.

Quote from Clucky

Not having double blue (or quadruple blue if your opponent has 2 spells), Sudden Death, being tapped out from casting with Hall of the Bandit Lord, Zur phasing to not die from blocks and getting removed in response.

But all these are besides the point. How is getting Vanishing better than Necropotence. Necropotence wins the game, Vanishing just gives you an unkillable Zur. If you get Vanishing first, you are just going to get Necropotence second. So why not just get the useful one first? Once necropotence is out the deck barely needs Zur.

I don't think you understand how this deck actually wins games. You are not in this to draw cards. Strong control elements, core Auras. That's the whole thing. Vanishing is unbelievably strong. This deck is supposed to protect Zur. There is no amount of counterspells that can protect him like Vanishing.

I don't know about that... Once Zur attacks Necro or at least some mild removal are the 1st thing they did. People who ignored Necro when there's opportunity, they tend to lose the race...

Well, at least that's how I often watch on Cockatrice.