MTG Salvation

I'm looking at building a multiplayer-only decklist running something along these lines...
Any feedback would surely be appreciated.
My goal is to give things away politically, then turtle up.

Here's my thoughts on your list Dakhwon:

I see you have Elixir of Immortality, Laboratory Maniac is another inclusion once you get close to decking yourself.

I see you run shifting borders, you might want to either replace it or find room for political trickery.

For protection cards, I'd add solitary confinement, and maybe the tax cards ghostly prison, propaganda, and norn's annex.

Rhystic Study is good early game, but another quirky card to consider replacing it (if you find yourself playing against the same color decks) is Insight.

I'd also consider Wild Research to run with Mistveil Plains, especially since you already run Sunforger. Another card that benefits the deck in every way possible is Paradox Haze, especially since you can donate it to someone and it still gives you double upkeeps.

Psychosis Crawler is also an auto-include. Drogskol Reaver could also be fun combined with Rhox Faithmender.

Some other donate targets: Embargo, Darksteel Relic (never once been disappointed when donating this useless card to someone), Lightmine Field, Grid Monitor, Meishin, the Mind Cage, Magus of the Moat

Thank you! I think I must have uploaded the wring decklist, I could have sworn I had Psychosis Crawler and Propaganda already. Ah well, I changed it above.

I have all of the cards you listed, so i'll be able to try them out. Moat effects are out, three different players in my meta run Kaalia, loaded with fliers.

What is your general strategy when you run the deck?

any updates?

Well Cyclonic Rift seems very good as bounce-wrath (evacuation +)/spot-bounce/win condition. I really like it.

Any thoughts on epic experiment?

Hey Zedruu Fans,

I just started a new teaching job (yay!) but if anyone here has been/known a first year teacher, they know that it's a crazy time!

I don't run Zedruu anymore for card-sharing reasons (the deck was split into multiple other decks) but I'd be happy to update the primer with some more Zedruu-centric cards once I get the opportunity. I'm so pleased that the interest in this awesome, unique general has not waned. I would expect a big update when the RtR spoiler is finished, since we'll have lots of new Azorius and Izzet goodies to sift through.

You asked for it, and you got it, folks.



Here's the first major update to Zedruu, the Greathearted in nearly a year. I decided to rebuild the deck after a long hiatus, and I put my new build in the main post along with the major changes and new tech from RTR. Most notably, we got Detention Sphere for donating and Sphinx's Revelation for draw, and I'll take a look through some of the Izzet's tech for any notable inclusions.

Just as a quick note, my list is based on my real life list, which now shares some cards with other blue decks. I didn't take out Cryptic Command because it was bad, but because i'm using it in Edric, Spymaster of Trest!

I would try Rainbow Vale, from fallen empires. Seems to go great.

Quote from fivecolorjunk

I decided to rebuild the deck after a long hiatus

Glad to hear it 5CJunk. I need to get back to EDH myself. Our group kind of disbanded a while back due to some of the core members leaving Magic. That being said I really, really want to get back in, so I'm going to start rebuilding (see my sig for the whopping 10 decks I had together at one point... and links to some of my 3d generals).
As soon as I have a working list together, I'll post it. Until then, keep brewing everyone!

I run lots of trade, draw until I omniscience enter the infinite, the drop Gisela blade.. and burn like a mofo

Made my first commander based on this very thread. Zedruu is awesome. Gonna post my decklist here as soon as I get some time to format it!

Edit: there you go :



Suggestions and critics are always appreciated. Also you might see some unorthodox choices like Swiftfoot Boots over Lightning Greaves or the lack of Hinder/Spell Crumple and that is solely because I couldn't grab those cards yet!

Bronze Bombshell, any1?

I used it for some time but got it out of the deck since it wasn't very effective. I mean, all the trouble to give it to someone for 7 damage? Easier to just give something game-breaking.

i really wish i could just put norin the wary, genesis chamber and confusion in the ranks here. the only thing that prevents me to do so is a lack of enchantments or instants that can tutor for creatures in these colors.

Quote from buddha84 »

i really wish i could just put norin the wary, genesis chamber and confusion in the ranks here. the only thing that prevents me to do so is a lack of enchantments or instants that can tutor for creatures in these colors.

Me too. And that's why I'm building another deck with Norin as commander.

Oh, i already play him, he's a blast ^^

Thinking of building Zedruu... Any suggestions on a solid list?

Long time player recently getting into EDH with a group of friends returning to Magic and I'm loving Zedruu.

Here's the list I'm currently running. I need to increase its win conditions. I didn't want to go complete hoser on my returning friends so I've omitted Celestial Dawn for now though I've been experimenting with it on Cockatrice & Magic Online (FYI it sucks on the latter because it's bugged and lets them add White mana to their pool. Unless I'm misunderstanding the interaction and Dawn makes your Commander White?)

I've omitted Transcendence since it's a one card combo given that the Commander is always available sans any shuffle affect having gotten her. Granted it takes a ton of mana and is situational, but I also don't want to play it with my group yet given the tricky interaction if everyone including me is at 20+ health (trigger on the stack, pass to opponent A, get it back, pass to B in response to trigger again, etc.) [Note - I love this card and have been using it on Magic Online to great effect. Once my group is up to speed I'll definitely be adding it.]

I'm thinking of putting Pyromancer's Swath in. I was debating if it's good enough to just hose a single opponent but I think that's the whole plan whether you're donating Illusions of Grandeur or anything else. I've tried Steel Golem but I'm not sure if it's good enough. Creatures are just so fragile.

I'm still working on evolving the deck but am not sure on next steps. It's very permanent reliant and artifact / enchantment sweepers suck (and good god don't destroy my lands!), even spot removal hurts quite a bit. The deck draws so many cards that it's constantly using all of its mana and I'm hungry for more. I often Copy Artifact my Guilded Lotus but it's still not enough, and it lines me up for further permanent blowouts.

A quick note on some odd choices..
Library of Leng - Reliquary Tower is important and having one you can tutor with Enlightened Tutor and Trinket Mage seems nice. It's also helpful with Wild Research to ward off the risk of discarding the card you searched up.

Fated Retribution - I wanted an instant sweeper I could tutor up with Wild Research. I've been debating switching this to Cyclonic Rift, Aetherize, or Aether Spouts. Maybe someone has more recommendations?

Other notes..
Sphinx's Revelation is amazing. I think I need to add a second instant draw X. Probably Blue Sun's Zenith?

Venser the Sojourner is also wonderful. So many interactions. Most especially with Illusions of Grandeur. Wish he wasn't so fragile.

Mistveil Plains is also very good. I'm considering more shuffle effects. I've thought about Elixir of Immortality but it just doesn't seem good enough. Have debated Time Spiral but shuffling away a big hand and giving my opponents cards are both undesirable. Thoughts?

Not saying it's a good or bad thing, but decree of silence doesn't do Zedruu any good. It gets sac'ed when it counters its third spell.

I'm not sure how active this board is anymore but for anyone also looking to build a zedruu deck Tragic Arrogance from origins seems like pretty solid tech. It's a decent removal spell in general since we can play it on an overwhelming board and we get to more or less pick the things we want to stay. But Zedruu takes it to the next level since we can pick the stuff we've been donating to them as what they keep and force them to sacrifice all their own stuff. Seems like a better sweeper than Hallowed Burial given the changes to the tuck rule.

I'm not sure how to feel about Zedruu. I've run plenty of deck variants of it and tried all manners of ways of keeping my commander on the board through counterspells, Lightning Greave effects, or other such effects. It may just be that I'm playing Zedruu incorrectly, but it feels that in most games I play, she dies enough times that her casting cost is too high to play, then do anything of importance before it's too late. Or worse, even if her donate engine does take off, I'm at a point where I'll give them Pyromancer's Swath, or Illusions of Grandeur, and the latter doesn't really do enough, and the former, while very effective at what it does, doesn't actually win out the game.

Am I doing something wrong? In my experience, playing Zedruu with donations really feels more like a clunky, commander dependent, less reliable version of traditional control, with an upside that risks you decking if you don't win fast enough.

This is one of my many attempted, unsuccessful versions of the deck. I've definitely won less than 10% of my games with this commander, and I'm not sure if it's a flawed premise of a commander, or just bad execution, as some people seem to swear by her.

I'd say if she's dying that much, you may be making yourself a target. I find in multiplayer my commanders don't do a significant amount of dying unless I'm presenting them as an immediate threat or if I'm trying to kill them off on purpose (like I do with Jeleva). If she's dying to a lot of Wrath effects, then that's a product of your table's boardstate on not a direct reflection on her; this can be solved with indestructible effects if you want, both Indestructibility and Shielded by Faith can solve the issue, as well as being donateable auras. If she's dying to targeted removal, that's your friends being scared of her.

I understand that people being scared of her or not trusting me is largely why she dies, but what i really need is a reliable way to stop that. Not a lot has really worked so far in that respect. I generally have a bullseye on my head when I play.