I'm a huge fan of Haunted Fengraf in basically any deck that can stand to run another colorless-producing land. It's not as good in a deck like this because many of the creatures it could return are relatively unimpressive, but it's still a land that comes into play untapped that you can cash in for an extra goblin.
My Zedruu deck is obviously quite a bit different than yours, but I think I still have a few useful suggestions. First of all, Prison Term is a fine EDH card in general, but it makes a lousy gift. I prefer Arrest or Encrust for shutting down attacking, blocking, and activated abilities. Second, I'm not sure what your meta is like but where I come from a few pieces of graveyard hate is a must. Even decks that aren't centered around the yard will often have some recursion. Grafdigger's Cage is my hate piece of choice because it makes a great gift (also shuts down Bribery). Another piece of yard hate which admittedly isn't as good is Bazaar of Wonders. I consider the second ability on it to be very fringe, but Zedruu tends to have few cards in common with other EDH decks so you'll likely get the better end of the deal there (i.e. only one person gets their Primeval Titan). Finally, Meekstone and Crackdown help you control the board and also happen to make great gifts.
I know that Elbrus, the Binding Blade is not a legal general. My local play-group has given me their blessing to go ahead and make a deck based on it anyway. I don't think it's too much of a stretch since it's a legendary artifact that transforms into a legendary creature. In my mind this makes it a lot different than trying to use Mind Slaver or Gaea's Cradle as a general. If the people I'm about to play a game with don't like it, I'll just play something else. If it turns out to be too powerful, I won't play it at all. Anyway, here's the list:
Pretty straightforward idea here. Play an evasive creature, stick Elbrus on it, get a 13/13 demon. With so many tough-to-block creatures, ninjas were a fairly obvious inclusion.
The equipment package is plan B. If I just can't get Withengar to stick the deck has plenty of critters to Voltron up. The particular equipment were chosen with a few things in mind. Greaves, Boots, and Swords all help protect Withengar. This is important since he's so fragile. There's also a smattering of card advantage-generating equipment and some life-gain. The life-gain is important because not many of my creatures can actually play defense. A handful of infect creatures can help make plan B more viable.
The rest of the deck is random good stuff. Against too many decks in my meta killing one of their creatures might as well be just returning it to their hand, hence the emphasis on exile effects. The discard pairs up with Contamination and Infernal Darkness to help proactively protect my general. Yawgmoth's Will is something I normally steer clear of in EDH because of the high average mana costs. This deck has a relatively low average mana cost, so it has a better shot at recurring more than one or two things.
Mana Crypt, Imperial Seal, and Grim Tutor were left out because they're beyond my budget. Basically anything else is fair game, though, and any reasonable suggestion is welcome.
It's not exactly the best tech ever, but Turn Aside is just better than Intervene. I suppose the latter can counter bomb auras on your opponents' guys, but the former protects Crystal Shard, Extraplanar Lens, and others.
Since Hazezon exiles all Sand Warriors, Blades of Velis Vel and Shields of Velis Vel are awesome responses to removal on him. Also works nicely with your plan of sacrificing him before the next upkeep.
This deck requires a little bit of context. Way back in 1998 at the Urza's Saga pre-release, while everyone else was agape at cards like Time Spiral, Stroke of Genius, and Tolarian Academy, I fell in love with the Horseshoe Crab // Hermetic Study combo. After the sealed event I made some trades and had a deck together in time for school on Monday. It was awesome. The machine gun effect allowed my mono-blue deck to deal with creatures and players while holding up mana for Counterspell. The good times kept rolling with the printing of first Sigil of Sleep and then Charisma. Eventually, though, my playgroup evolved beyond the point where such nonsense could actually be considered good.
Flash forward 12 years and suddenly I have a new venue for an old favorite: EDH. Thanks to the untap symbol in Lorwyn block, I was pretty much settled on WUR for colors. At the time Numot, the Devastator was the only general in the right colors, but he just didn't fit the theme. I was overjoyed when Zedruu the Greathearted was spoiled and immediately put together the classic-themed deck which now looks like:
Besides being the right colors Zedruu lets me donate auras for profit, since they say "enchanted creature gains 't: do something sweet.'" Now, I didn't write this post just to brag; the deck has some problems. For starters, it definitely needs more ways to interact with things that aren't ping-able creatures. In particular, Aura Shards is such a savage beating it's not even funny. Even a timely Krosan Grip can leave me in top-deck mode with just a 1/1 dork in play. I'm looking to add in Replenish and Eight-and-a-Half-Tails to give me a little more robustness, but am unsure what to cut for them.
The deck is also insanely mana hungry, but my mana rocks are making me even more vulnerable to Akroma's Vengeance, Pernicious Deed, and the like. Right now, the deck isn't dependent on Zedruu staying in play, but can take full advantage of her when she does. That's a quality I'd like to retain.
There are plenty of combos with Zedruu, like Transcendence and Thought Lash, but I'm not interested in using things like that here.
Obviously, Moat and The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale would be good here, but they're far out of my budget. Other than that, I'm willing to invest in this deck so any suggestions are welcome and appreciated.
I know that Elbrus, the Binding Blade is not a legal general. My local play-group has given me their blessing to go ahead and make a deck based on it anyway. I don't think it's too much of a stretch since it's a legendary artifact that transforms into a legendary creature. In my mind this makes it a lot different than trying to use Mind Slaver or Gaea's Cradle as a general. If the people I'm about to play a game with don't like it, I'll just play something else. If it turns out to be too powerful, I won't play it at all. Anyway, here's the list:
1 Elbrus, the Binding Blade
Evasive Dudes (16)
1 Dauthi Slayer
1 Dauthi Horror
1 Tormented Soul
1 Nether Traitor
1 Dauthi Mindripper
1 Dauthi Cutthroat
1 Dauthi Warlord
1 Dauthi Ghoul
1 Stronghold Rats
1 Dauthi Jackal
1 Dauthi Mercenary
1 Wei Scout
1 Ferropede
1 Vault Skirge
1 Plague Stinger
1 Bitterblossom
Ninjas (3)
1 Okiba-Gang Shinobi
1 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
1 Throat Slitter
Equipment (10)
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Mask of Memory
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Grafted Exoskeleton
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Loxodon Warhammer
1 Inquisitor's Flail
1 Sword of War and Peace
1 Ashes to Ashes
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Graveborn Muse
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Amulet of Unmaking
1 Brittle Effigy
1 Infernal Darkness
1 Mind Twist
1 Mind Shatter
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Myojin of Night's Reach
1 Contamination
1 Cannibalize
1 Sever the Bloodline
Ramp (16)
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Opal
1 Mox Diamond
1 Chrome Mox
1 Grim Monolith
1 Dark Ritual
1 Basalt Monolith
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Charcoal Diamond
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Leaden Myr
1 Palladium Myr
1 Coalition Relic
1 Plague Myr
1 Ancient Tomb
1 City of Traitors
1 Crystal Vein
1 Peat Bog
1 Ebon Stronghold
1 Lake of the Dead
1 Untaidake, the Cloud Keeper
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Vault of Whispers
1 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
1 Haunted Fengraf
1 Swarmyard
24 Swamp
Pretty straightforward idea here. Play an evasive creature, stick Elbrus on it, get a 13/13 demon. With so many tough-to-block creatures, ninjas were a fairly obvious inclusion.
The equipment package is plan B. If I just can't get Withengar to stick the deck has plenty of critters to Voltron up. The particular equipment were chosen with a few things in mind. Greaves, Boots, and Swords all help protect Withengar. This is important since he's so fragile. There's also a smattering of card advantage-generating equipment and some life-gain. The life-gain is important because not many of my creatures can actually play defense. A handful of infect creatures can help make plan B more viable.
The rest of the deck is random good stuff. Against too many decks in my meta killing one of their creatures might as well be just returning it to their hand, hence the emphasis on exile effects. The discard pairs up with Contamination and Infernal Darkness to help proactively protect my general. Yawgmoth's Will is something I normally steer clear of in EDH because of the high average mana costs. This deck has a relatively low average mana cost, so it has a better shot at recurring more than one or two things.
Mana Crypt, Imperial Seal, and Grim Tutor were left out because they're beyond my budget. Basically anything else is fair game, though, and any reasonable suggestion is welcome.
Flash forward 12 years and suddenly I have a new venue for an old favorite: EDH. Thanks to the untap symbol in Lorwyn block, I was pretty much settled on WUR for colors. At the time Numot, the Devastator was the only general in the right colors, but he just didn't fit the theme. I was overjoyed when Zedruu the Greathearted was spoiled and immediately put together the classic-themed deck which now looks like:
1 Zedruu the Greathearted
Crabs (9)
1 Horseshoe Crab
1 Puresight Merrow
1 Pili-Pala
1 Leech Bonder
1 Morphling
1 Torchling
1 Silkbind Faerie
1 Patrol Signaler
1 Pemmin's Aura
Studies (9)
1 Hermetic Study
1 Power of Fire
1 Psionic Gift
1 Heavy Arbalest
1 Quicksilver Dagger
1 Arcane Teachings
1 Lightning Prowess
1 Hypervolt Grasp
1 Opposition
Recursion (4)
1 Sun Titan
1 Hanna, Ship's Navigator
1 Reveillark
1 Faith's Reward
Protection (3)
1 Mother of Runes
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Greater Auramancy
Gifts (13)
1 Mana Flare
1 Paradox Haze
1 Statecraft
1 Magus of the Moat
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Bazaar of Wonders
1 Meekstone
1 Faith's Fetters
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Exclusion Ritual
1 Spine of Ish Sah
1 Encrust
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Drift of Phantasms
1 Intuition
1 Wild Research
1 Three Dreams
1 Academy Rector
1 Fabricate
1 Sensei's Divining Top
Counter Magic (5)
1 Hinder
1 Spell Crumple
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Hindering Light
1 Forbid
Rocks (10)
1 Sol Ring
1 Azorius Signet
1 Izzet Signet
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Talisman of Progress
1 Armillary Sphere
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Gilded Lotus
Lands (38)
1 Serra's Sanctum
1 Marsh Flats
1 Flooded Strand
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Windswept Heath
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Arid Mesa
1 Plateau
1 Volcanic Island
1 Tundra
1 Adarkar Wastes
1 Shivan Reef
1 Command Tower
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Boros Garrison
1 Azorius Chancery
1 Izzet Boilerworks
1 City of Brass
1 Haunted Fengraf
1 Strip Mine
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Ancient Tomb
7 Island
4 Plains
2 Mountain
Besides being the right colors Zedruu lets me donate auras for profit, since they say "enchanted creature gains 't: do something sweet.'" Now, I didn't write this post just to brag; the deck has some problems. For starters, it definitely needs more ways to interact with things that aren't ping-able creatures. In particular, Aura Shards is such a savage beating it's not even funny. Even a timely Krosan Grip can leave me in top-deck mode with just a 1/1 dork in play. I'm looking to add in Replenish and Eight-and-a-Half-Tails to give me a little more robustness, but am unsure what to cut for them.
The deck is also insanely mana hungry, but my mana rocks are making me even more vulnerable to Akroma's Vengeance, Pernicious Deed, and the like. Right now, the deck isn't dependent on Zedruu staying in play, but can take full advantage of her when she does. That's a quality I'd like to retain.
There are plenty of combos with Zedruu, like Transcendence and Thought Lash, but I'm not interested in using things like that here.
Obviously, Moat and The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale would be good here, but they're far out of my budget. Other than that, I'm willing to invest in this deck so any suggestions are welcome and appreciated.