I had been thinking of making a Zedruu deck for quite a while and after seeing Harmless Offering spoiled, I decided to go ahead and build it.
The deck itself is not that different than most other Zedruu decks. I have quite a few "griefer" cards (such as Akron Legionnaire and Aggressive Mining) with a couple of win conditions with Thought Lash and Illusions of Grandeur. The deck so far has been doing what I want it to do and while I want to win with it, the major focus is just to gain as much life and draw as many cards as I can and overwhelm my opponents with my card advantage.
As mentioned, win conditions are required to be given away so I run Donate and Harmless Offering in addition to Zedruu. Unfortunately, Bazaar Trader can't give away enchantments which is a big deal for the deck. It is still decent for the artifacts and creatures it can give away, but it is somewhat underwhelming.
One of my favorite things to do is exchange control of Avarice Totem and a permanent I control and then, in response exchange control of Avarice Totem and a permanent an opponent controls. This way, by spending 10 mana, I can trade any nonland permanent I control for any nonland permanent an opponent controls while still retaining control of Avarice Totem to do it again next turn. It takes a lot of mana but it is still fun to do.
Paradox Haze lets me gain double life and draw double cards since I get two upkeeps. I can even "donate" Paradox Haze without losing the effect of two upkeeps. Copy Enchantment can give me another upkeep or copy another enchantment so I can kill another player.
Alhammarret's Archive lets me gain double life off Illusions of Grandeur and Delusions of Mediocrity so I get even more of a benefit off them. It also helps protect me in case someone destroys one of them before I can give it away. At least then I still got use out of it. The Archive also lets me draw more cards from Zedruu.
There are a few cards that have been underwhelming but I am still testing. I also don't know of any cards to add in their place so the list, as is, will probably remain for a while. If anyone has any feedback regarding the deck and card choices, let me know. Any card suggestions would be appreciated so I can potentially have replacements for any cards I end up wanting to cut.
I actually left off Mana Vault because it didn't help cast my general. However, that decision was made before I added much more Artifact mana. I think now Mana Vault may actually be better than I originally thought since I will have more early plays with it. Plus, it is a good card to "donate" to another player. I will find a spot for it.
Delusions is alright as it ends up being a 10 damage spell. With Venser, I can keep reusing it. It isn't nearly as good as Illusions of Grandeur, but so far it has been pretty good. Plus, with Alhammarret's Archive, it is a gain 20 life spell.
The question about Brand is actually a good one. I have never found myself wanting to cast it (which is the same for Activating Homeward Path, but that only takes a land slot). I justified its inclusion because I could cycle it, but after playing it a few times, I don't think it is worthwhile. It is high on the list of cards to cut.
I had thought about Grasp of Fate and I don't know why I didn't include it. I agree that the cards you listed are better than Journey to Nowehere.
I don't think Spy Kit will see enough play and even if it does, they only get to attack with one extra creature (the one Spy Kit is attached too). I am not too concerned about it invalidating the card, but I guess I will see what happens in my meta.
With all of that said, here are the changes I made:
The deck itself is not that different than most other Zedruu decks. I have quite a few "griefer" cards (such as Akron Legionnaire and Aggressive Mining) with a couple of win conditions with Thought Lash and Illusions of Grandeur. The deck so far has been doing what I want it to do and while I want to win with it, the major focus is just to gain as much life and draw as many cards as I can and overwhelm my opponents with my card advantage.
Decklist:
1 Zedruu the Greathearted
Lands
1 Arid Mesa
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Command Tower
1 Diamond Valley
1 Flooded Strand
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 High Market
1 Homeward Path
5 Island
4 Mountain
1 Mystic Gate
4 Plains
1 Plateau
1 Polluted Delta
1 Prairie Stream
1 Rainbow Vale
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Steam Vents
1 Tundra
1 Volcanic Island
1 Winding Canyons
1 Wooded Foothills
Instants
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Mana Drain
1 Overwhelming Intellect
1 Path to Exile
1 Shifting Borders
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Akroma's Vengeance
1 Day's Undoing
1 Donate
1 Harmless Offering
1 Reforge the Soul
1 Rout
1 Time Spiral
1 Timetwister
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Wrath of God
Creatures
1 Akron Legionnaire
1 Bazaar Trader
1 Burnished Hart
1 Cinder Giant
1 Djinn of Infinite Deceits
1 Draining Whelk
1 Duplicant
1 Emeria Shepherd
1 Gilded Drake
1 Grid Monitor
1 Magus of the Moat
1 Rust Elemental
1 Serendib Djinn
1 Silent Arbiter
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Steel Golem
1 Sun Titan
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
Artifacts
1 Alhammarret's Archive
1 Avarice Totem
1 Azorius Signet
1 Boros Signet
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Despotic Scepter
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Izzet Signet
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Sphere of the Suns
1 Talisman of Progress
1 Thought Vessel
1 Aggressive Mining
1 Assemble the Legion
1 Bulwark
1 Copy Enchantment
1 Delusions of Mediocrity
1 Detention Sphere
1 Form of the Dragon
1 Grasp of Fate
1 Illusions of Grandeur
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Paradox Haze
1 Puca's Mischief
1 Pyromancer's Swath
1 Thought Lash
1 Witch Hunt
Planeswalkers
1 Venser, the Sojourner
As mentioned, win conditions are required to be given away so I run Donate and Harmless Offering in addition to Zedruu. Unfortunately, Bazaar Trader can't give away enchantments which is a big deal for the deck. It is still decent for the artifacts and creatures it can give away, but it is somewhat underwhelming.
One of my favorite things to do is exchange control of Avarice Totem and a permanent I control and then, in response exchange control of Avarice Totem and a permanent an opponent controls. This way, by spending 10 mana, I can trade any nonland permanent I control for any nonland permanent an opponent controls while still retaining control of Avarice Totem to do it again next turn. It takes a lot of mana but it is still fun to do.
Paradox Haze lets me gain double life and draw double cards since I get two upkeeps. I can even "donate" Paradox Haze without losing the effect of two upkeeps. Copy Enchantment can give me another upkeep or copy another enchantment so I can kill another player.
Alhammarret's Archive lets me gain double life off Illusions of Grandeur and Delusions of Mediocrity so I get even more of a benefit off them. It also helps protect me in case someone destroys one of them before I can give it away. At least then I still got use out of it. The Archive also lets me draw more cards from Zedruu.
There are a few cards that have been underwhelming but I am still testing. I also don't know of any cards to add in their place so the list, as is, will probably remain for a while. If anyone has any feedback regarding the deck and card choices, let me know. Any card suggestions would be appreciated so I can potentially have replacements for any cards I end up wanting to cut.
Just about the only good mana rock / hateful gift I see missing is Mana Vault. Does Delusions of Mediocrity do enough? When do you want to cast Brand? Journey to Nowhere isn't as good as
Edit: Oop, new card invalidates deck. Spy Kit makes Akron Legionnaire look silly. Oh well.
Delusions is alright as it ends up being a 10 damage spell. With Venser, I can keep reusing it. It isn't nearly as good as Illusions of Grandeur, but so far it has been pretty good. Plus, with Alhammarret's Archive, it is a gain 20 life spell.
The question about Brand is actually a good one. I have never found myself wanting to cast it (which is the same for Activating Homeward Path, but that only takes a land slot). I justified its inclusion because I could cycle it, but after playing it a few times, I don't think it is worthwhile. It is high on the list of cards to cut.
I had thought about Grasp of Fate and I don't know why I didn't include it. I agree that the cards you listed are better than Journey to Nowehere.
I don't think Spy Kit will see enough play and even if it does, they only get to attack with one extra creature (the one Spy Kit is attached too). I am not too concerned about it invalidating the card, but I guess I will see what happens in my meta.
With all of that said, here are the changes I made:
-Journey to Nowhere
-Brand
+Mana Vault
+Grasp of Fate
Thanks for the suggestions.