This is a work in progress - I'm mostly making a list here to keep track of the ideas that are floating around in my head until I cut it all down.
Most of the Zedruu decks I've seen are built to focus on his ability to donate things that really hose your opponent (in game-ending ways in some cases). I want to build a Zedruu deck that can still do that occasionally, but with a slightly different focus.
The idea of this build is to spend the early game turtling in, gaining some life, and hanging back to let your opponents duke it out. When one of them drops something interesting though - this becomes sort of a steal deck. But instead of stealing, it's really more of an "exchange" :-D. That way I still get to use the good creatures my opponent's are playing, I get the early game blockers, and I get a benefit from the exchange! Plus it's a little less one-note than my blue "steal all the things" Thada deck, which is really my motivation here.
The deck also has a lifegain subtheme; it seems to go rather well with Zedruu's ability.
Most of the Zedruu decks I've seen are built to focus on his ability to donate things that really hose your opponent (in game-ending ways in some cases). I want to build a Zedruu deck that can still do that occasionally, but with a slightly different focus.
The idea of this build is to spend the early game turtling in, gaining some life, and hanging back to let your opponents duke it out. When one of them drops something interesting though - this becomes sort of a steal deck. But instead of stealing, it's really more of an "exchange" :-D. That way I still get to use the good creatures my opponent's are playing, I get the early game blockers, and I get a benefit from the exchange! Plus it's a little less one-note than my blue "steal all the things" Thada deck, which is really my motivation here.
The deck also has a lifegain subtheme; it seems to go rather well with Zedruu's ability.
Okay, the list:
1 Zedruu, the Greathearted
Turtling creatures
1 Dream Fighter
1 Rainbow Efreet
1 Guard Gomazoa
1 Mistmeadow Skulk
1 Guardian of the Guildpact
1 Beloved Chaplain
1 Fog Bank
1 Wall of Denial
1 Wall of Kelp
1 Wall of Frost
1 Wall of Vapor
1 Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker
1 Plumeveil
1 Living Wall
1 Spiny Starfish
1 Ghost Ship
1 Metallurgeon
1 Revered Dead
1 Uthden Troll
1 Windborn muse
1 Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs
1 Commander Eesha
1 Blazing Archon
Turtling Permanents
1 Flood
1 Righteous Aura
1 Propaganda
1 Ghostly Prison
1 Palliation Accord
1 Island Sanctuary
1 Solitary Confinement
1 Aurification
1 Forcefield
1 Energy Field
Value
1 Avatar of Slaughter
1 Grand Melee
1 Mass Hysteria
1 Master Warcraft
1 Total War
1 War's Toll
1 Crescendo of War
Let's trade!
1 Gilded Drake
1 Cultural Exchange
1 Chromeshell Crab
1 Avarice Totem
1 Gauntlets of Chaos
1 Juxtapose
1 Legerdemain
1 Vedalken Plotter
1 Shifting Borders
1 Political Trickery
Funny stuff
1 Goblin Cadet
1 Bazaar Trader
1 Reiterate
1 Paradox Haze
1 Copy Enchantment
1 Echo Mage
1 Odds/Ends
1 Sun Droplet
1 Sun's Bounty
1 Well of Lost Dreams
1 Words of Worship
1 Venser's Journal
Funny stuff to donate
1 Delaying Shield
1 Illusions of Grandeur
1 Celestial Dawn
1 Rust Elemental
1 Lich's Tomb
1 Grid Monitor
1 Steel Golem
1 Pyromancer's Swath
1 Celestial Dawn
Donatable removal
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Faith's Fetters
1 Arrest
1 Cessation
1 Claustrophobia
1 Plumes of Peace
1 Temporal Isolation
1 Bonds of Faith
1 Bound in Silence
1 Hobble
1 Kirtar's Desire
1 Pacifism
Other removal
1 Dismantling Blow
1 Phyrexian Rebirth
1 Wave of Reckoning
1 Solar Tide
1 Austere Command
1 Cleansing
1 Martial Coup
1 Phyrexian Rebirth
Win Conditions
1 Rite of Replication
1 Storm Herd
1 Insurrection
1 Psychosis Crawler
1 Niv-Mizzet the Firemind
1 Words of War
1 Hoofprints of the Stag
1 White Sun's Zenith
1 Luminarch Ascension
1 Reins of Power
1 Gather Specimens
1 Enduring Ideal
1 Eternal Dominion
1 Vicious Shadows
1 Repercussion
Creatures
1 Sun Titan
1 Dominus of Fealty
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Wild Research
1 Trinket Mage
1 Idyllic Tutor
1 Academy Rector
1 Gamble
1 Expedition Map
1 Mystical Tutor
Planeswalkers
1 Venser, the Sojourner
1 Elspeth Tiriel
1 Elspeth, Knight Errant
Utility
1 Library of Leng
1 Skull of Orm
Ramp
1 Sol Ring
1 Izzet Signet
1 Azorius Signet
1 Boros Signet
1 Coalition Relic
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Gilded Lotus
Land (38)
1 Plateau
1 Tundra
1 Volcanic Island
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Steam Vents
1 Arid Mesa
1 Flooded Strand
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Mystic Gate
1 Cascade Bluffs
1 Rugged Prairie
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Command Tower
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Vesuva
1 Rainbow Vale
1 Kor Haven
1 Kjeldoran Outpost
1 Kher Keep
1 Springjack Pasture
1 Mistveil Plains
1 Maze of Ith
1 Mystifying Maze
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Strip Mine
Small combos:
All Enchantments = combo with Zedruu (can be donated), searched (Wild Research, Idyllic Tutor), and recurred (Sun Titan).
Wild Research + White Sun's Zenith = hordes of cat tokens
Library of Leng + Wild Research = less painful consequences from the discards
Mistveil Plains + Wild Research = mutiple tutorings/uses out of same enchantment
Exchange cards that don't really work here:
:symu::symr::symg:Riku of Two Reflections (ETB toolbox)
:symw::symb::symr:Kaalia of the Vast Reanimator
:symw::symu::symb::symr::symg:Karona's Proliferating Allies