This deck is pretty standard in its kind. I'm a big fan of enchantments, so I had thought about building a Zur deck for perhaps a decade but hadn't gotten around to actually doing it, partly because I thought it might not be a super interesting deck and perhaps too competitive. Either I haven't figured how to play it properly or the years haven't been kind to the deck because I haven't found it being exceptionally powerful.
Zur decks are still really, really powerful. They've simply gone in a direction that is very far askance from what your deck is trying to do. Competitive Zur decks utilize cards like Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter and a bunch of mana rocks to create infinite mana and Storm and then kill you with Aetherflux Reservoir. They are also becoming more and more fond of utilizing Laboratory Maniac strategies, the most efficient of which are Tainted Pact and Demonic Consultation lines to win the game with the Maniac in play.
What direction are you trying to go with your deck? Are you trying to make this deckist as lean and competitive as possible or do you want to still focus on attacking safely with Zur?
Necropotence isn't that great with Zur, he's not about card advantage, he's about spewing a ton of enchantments out and controlling the board with cards removal cards like oblivion ring and locking out opponents with things like mana vortex.
Yeah, it's probaby not the most relevant card in the deck; it's mostly there to help keep the hand stocked with denial.
Zur decks are still really, really powerful. They've simply gone in a direction that is very far askance from what your deck is trying to do. Competitive Zur decks utilize cards like Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter and a bunch of mana rocks to create infinite mana and Storm and then kill you with Aetherflux Reservoir. They are also becoming more and more fond of utilizing Laboratory Maniac strategies, the most efficient of which are Tainted Pact and Demonic Consultation lines to win the game with the Maniac in play.
Ahaa, I see! I guess it's quite impossible to make Zur a fun deck, so I could just as well go down that kind of path...
What direction are you trying to go with your deck? Are you trying to make this deckist as lean and competitive as possible or do you want to still focus on attacking safely with Zur?
Well, my original thought was to make an enchantment-heavy deck that would be at least somewhat interactive. I've played enchantress-type decks in several formats before, and they tend to be depressing to play and to play against. Perhaps I should try somebody else?
Necropotence isn't that great with Zur, he's not about card advantage, he's about spewing a ton of enchantments out and controlling the board with cards removal cards like oblivion ring and locking out opponents with things like mana vortex.
You're not ramping either, you don't want him out turn 4/5,you want him turn 3/4 so Orzhov signet and the like are vital to fix colour ASAP.
Zur can't do all the work by himself without any help so arcanum wings switched for an eldrazi conscription can decimate your opponents.
Otherwise you're going to be trying to beat you opponents in 21 attacks per opponent. You'll deck yourself before that happens
I'm going to politely, and strongly, disagree with this statement here. Necropotence is a fantastic source of card advantage, especially in conjunction with the myriad Auras that grant Lifelink. With the amount of life-gain this Aura-focused version of the deck can generate, Necropotence basically reads : "Attack with Zur and Keep your hand full of cards for the rest of the game." With the fact that it synergizes with Solitary Confinement so neatly, I think NOT including Necropotence would be a mistake. Additionally, Card Advantage is what makes this format tick. Have you ever sat in a game where you only had 1-2 cards in hand? I have. It wasn't very enjoyable. So anything that allows me to dig deeper into my deck and keep me interacting and involved in the game I'm playing is a card I'm going to advocate. And Necropotence is pretty much the most efficient card draw spell available in this format (RIP Griselbrand and Yawgmoth's Bargain...)
While Zur himself is not focused exclusively on Card Advantage in a traditional "I spend 1 card to get 2+ cards back" mentality. He's putting things directly into play, which is a form of card advantage since the enchantment he's putting into play wasn't there in the first place and NOT in your hand. Because he is efficiently getting cards into play with an attack step, I would definitely consider his ability a form of card advantage.
Necropotence isn't that great with Zur, he's not about card advantage, he's about spewing a ton of enchantments out and controlling the board with cards removal cards like oblivion ring and locking out opponents with things like mana vortex.
Yeah, it's probaby not the most relevant card in the deck; it's mostly there to help keep the hand stocked with denial.
Zur decks are still really, really powerful. They've simply gone in a direction that is very far askance from what your deck is trying to do. Competitive Zur decks utilize cards like Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter and a bunch of mana rocks to create infinite mana and Storm and then kill you with Aetherflux Reservoir. They are also becoming more and more fond of utilizing Laboratory Maniac strategies, the most efficient of which are Tainted Pact and Demonic Consultation lines to win the game with the Maniac in play.
Ahaa, I see! I guess it's quite impossible to make Zur a fun deck, so I could just as well go down that kind of path...
What direction are you trying to go with your deck? Are you trying to make this deckist as lean and competitive as possible or do you want to still focus on attacking safely with Zur?
Well, my original thought was to make an enchantment-heavy deck that would be at least somewhat interactive. I've played enchantress-type decks in several formats before, and they tend to be depressing to play and to play against. Perhaps I should try somebody else?
I think that you can happily go with the more traditional Voltron Zur that used to be the norm for competitive Zur decks. With the discovery (rediscovery?) of Ad Nauseam, any deck that can effectively use it should most definitely use Nauseam. And since Nauseam lends itself so nicely to a Storm type strategy, Zur and other Nauseam Storm decks have adopted some of the synergies and card types that make a Storm deck function properly. Hence, most super-competitive Zur decks have a VERY small selection of Zur-able enchantments. The most common ones I've seen are Necropotence, Grasp of Fate, Rhystic Study, and Rest in Peace.
I think you actually have a pretty decent selection of cards. I would definitely focus on the Staxy elements of Zur, as that will allow your longer-term strategy to actually come to fruition. Rule of Law and its functional cousin Eidolon of Rhetoric are great for putting opponents on a slow-down strategy, and you're already playing Rest in Peace and Stony Silence. I think you could cut some of the enchantment based removal for Ad Nauseam and some additional ramp. Getting Zur online quickly is important since he's your primary strategy, so cards like the afore mentioned Signets, Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, Talisman of Dominance, and Talisman of Progress are great mana rocks that do the job well. I think your control suite and counterspell suite is spot on; you could remove some cards from these pools if you wanted to make room for some more mana rocks.
This deck is pretty standard in its kind. I'm a big fan of enchantments, so I had thought about building a Zur deck for perhaps a decade but hadn't gotten around to actually doing it, partly because I thought it might not be a super interesting deck and perhaps too competitive. Either I haven't figured how to play it properly or the years haven't been kind to the deck because I haven't found it being exceptionally powerful.
4 Zur the Enchanter
Creatures (5)
1 Mother of Runes
1 Weathered Wayfarer
2 Snapcaster Mage
3 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
6 Sun Titan
Instants (20)
0 Pact of Negation
1 Worldly Tutor
1 Stifle
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Path to Exile
2 Delay
2 Negate
2 Counterspell
2 Mana Drain
3 Faerie Trickery
3 Dissipate
3 Hinder
3 Spell Crumple
3 Forbid
3 Crib Swap
3 Oblation
4 Return to Dust
5 Force of Will
5 Misdirection
Sorceries (7)
2 Demonic Tutor
3 Vindicate
4 Replenish
4 Armageddon
4 Cataclysm
6 Catastrophe
6 Merciless Eviction
1 Vanishing
1 Mystic Remora
2 Diplomatic Immunity
2 Energy Field
2 Animate Dead
2 Darksteel Mutation
2 Seal of Cleansing
2 Stony Silence
2 Rest in Peace
2 Greater Auramancy
3 Imprisoned in the Moon
3 Copy Enchantment
3 Rhystic Study
3 Propaganda
3 Pemmin's Aura
3 Necromancy
3 Phyrexian Arena
3 Necropotence
3 Arrest
3 Banishing Light
3 Oblivion Ring
3 Ghostly Prison
3 Rule of Law
3 Solitary Confinement
3 Prison Term
3 Aura of Silence
3 Steel of the Godhead
3 Detention Sphere
Planeswalkers (1)
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Lands (38)
1 Maze of Ith
1 Vesuva
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Polluted Delta
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Arid Mesa
1 Flooded Strand
1 Windswept Heath
1 Marsh Flats
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
1 Homeward Path
1 Temple of the False God
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Command Tower
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Mistveil Plains
1 Watery Grave
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Godless Shrine
1 Underground Sea
1 Tundra
1 Scrubland
6 Island
1 Swamp
4 Plains
Changelog
Dreams of the Sphinx (Sharuum the Hegemon)
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow (Roon of the Hidden Realm)
For vår jord (Azusa, Lost But Seeking)
Black Power (Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed)
What direction are you trying to go with your deck? Are you trying to make this deckist as lean and competitive as possible or do you want to still focus on attacking safely with Zur?
UB Dralnu, Lich Lord
RBW [Primer]-Kaalia of the Vast
BUG [Primer]-Tasigur, the Golden Fang
GWU [Primer]-Arcades, the Strategist
WUB Primer-Aminatou, the Fateshifter
UBR Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
Yeah, it's probaby not the most relevant card in the deck; it's mostly there to help keep the hand stocked with denial.
That's a good point. However, after Zur is in play, the amount of mana needed isn't much.
It's in already, of course, and one of the most useful pieces.
Ahaa, I see! I guess it's quite impossible to make Zur a fun deck, so I could just as well go down that kind of path...
Well, my original thought was to make an enchantment-heavy deck that would be at least somewhat interactive. I've played enchantress-type decks in several formats before, and they tend to be depressing to play and to play against. Perhaps I should try somebody else?
Dreams of the Sphinx (Sharuum the Hegemon)
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow (Roon of the Hidden Realm)
For vår jord (Azusa, Lost But Seeking)
Black Power (Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed)
I'm going to politely, and strongly, disagree with this statement here. Necropotence is a fantastic source of card advantage, especially in conjunction with the myriad Auras that grant Lifelink. With the amount of life-gain this Aura-focused version of the deck can generate, Necropotence basically reads : "Attack with Zur and Keep your hand full of cards for the rest of the game." With the fact that it synergizes with Solitary Confinement so neatly, I think NOT including Necropotence would be a mistake. Additionally, Card Advantage is what makes this format tick. Have you ever sat in a game where you only had 1-2 cards in hand? I have. It wasn't very enjoyable. So anything that allows me to dig deeper into my deck and keep me interacting and involved in the game I'm playing is a card I'm going to advocate. And Necropotence is pretty much the most efficient card draw spell available in this format (RIP Griselbrand and Yawgmoth's Bargain...)
While Zur himself is not focused exclusively on Card Advantage in a traditional "I spend 1 card to get 2+ cards back" mentality. He's putting things directly into play, which is a form of card advantage since the enchantment he's putting into play wasn't there in the first place and NOT in your hand. Because he is efficiently getting cards into play with an attack step, I would definitely consider his ability a form of card advantage.
I think that you can happily go with the more traditional Voltron Zur that used to be the norm for competitive Zur decks. With the discovery (rediscovery?) of Ad Nauseam, any deck that can effectively use it should most definitely use Nauseam. And since Nauseam lends itself so nicely to a Storm type strategy, Zur and other Nauseam Storm decks have adopted some of the synergies and card types that make a Storm deck function properly. Hence, most super-competitive Zur decks have a VERY small selection of Zur-able enchantments. The most common ones I've seen are Necropotence, Grasp of Fate, Rhystic Study, and Rest in Peace.
I think you actually have a pretty decent selection of cards. I would definitely focus on the Staxy elements of Zur, as that will allow your longer-term strategy to actually come to fruition. Rule of Law and its functional cousin Eidolon of Rhetoric are great for putting opponents on a slow-down strategy, and you're already playing Rest in Peace and Stony Silence. I think you could cut some of the enchantment based removal for Ad Nauseam and some additional ramp. Getting Zur online quickly is important since he's your primary strategy, so cards like the afore mentioned Signets, Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, Talisman of Dominance, and Talisman of Progress are great mana rocks that do the job well. I think your control suite and counterspell suite is spot on; you could remove some cards from these pools if you wanted to make room for some more mana rocks.
I hope this helps!
UB Dralnu, Lich Lord
RBW [Primer]-Kaalia of the Vast
BUG [Primer]-Tasigur, the Golden Fang
GWU [Primer]-Arcades, the Strategist
WUB Primer-Aminatou, the Fateshifter
UBR Nicol Bolas, the Ravager