[Deck] Zur

[Phoenix Ignition]

The original idea other than trying to break Zur, the Enchanter is that auras have gotten so underused lately, even though WotC has clearly been trying to make an effort to make them better. No one wants to get their creature + aura two for oned so auras have become a thing of the past it the current Legacy scene. Zur, on the other hand, makes a ton of card advantage by putting these in for free. This also opens us up to a world of other enchantments for control and toolkitting.

So after days of scouring through every enchantment under 3 casting cost that Wizards has ever printed, I decided on a control shell to fit the best in. White Blue Black was a requirement from Zur, and actually the best enchantments come in those colors, so that was the easy part.

Zur as a creature is incredibly hard to kill. He's 4 defense so burn has to try to land 2 spells on him, he's black, he's bigger than 3cc, and he's hard to shut down with flying. Swords to Plowshares is the biggest problem, but Counterbalance just happens to solve the problem.

Over months of playtesting the deck evolved from UWb fish to what it is now, largely a control deck. After posting it here I was quite happy to find my list used to such an extent in tournaments across the world (Mainly in Spain). Although I don’t agree with some of the changes made to the deck, you can’t argue with results:
http://www.deckcheck.net/list.php?type=Zur&format=Legacy


The Deck:
// Lands
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
4 Tundra
4 Underground Sea
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Karakas

// Creatures
4 Zur the Enchanter
3 Dark Confidant
2 Geist of Saint Traft
2 Jotun Grunt

// Spells
4 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Brainstorm
3 Counterbalance
2 Steel of the Godhead
2 Oblivion Ring
3 Force of Will
1 Pemmin's Aura
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Spell Pierce
2 Terminus


Sideboard (Completely dependent on Metagame).

3 Meddling Mage
2 Aura of Silence
1 Threads of Disloyalty
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Rule of Law
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Planar Void
1 Back to Basics
1 Runed Halo
2 Hydroblast

Explanation

This deck runs incredibly smoothly for it's mana curve. It plays like a heavy control deck, and then lands the game winning bomb Zur. Two swings with him should lock the game up if it wasn't already. Often it is not necessary to even land Zur, as Threads of Disloyalty or a protected Dark Confidant can win you the game, along with your heavy control

Decisions

Dark Confidant - A must-kill threat as it wracks up card advantage. Very good against any decks destroying lands, as that is the hardest thing with this deck to cope with. Bob is awesome, and even if he eats a removal it's okay.

Zur the Enchanter - Powerhouse of a card 1/4 is an amazing gift because he's always out of range of the burn. Fishes for any enchantment, buffs himself while attacking with Steel of the Godhead, steals and eats creatures with Threads of Disloyalty or o-ring. Pemmin's Aura turns him into a Morphling, which makes him almost impossible to stop.

Steel of the Godhead - Armadillo cloak comes in unblockable?! Game winning on Zur against most decks, but also good for the 3 cost for counterbalance. Instant win condition if you can protect your creature.

Pemmin's Aura: Good first choice for Zur if you expect Swords, Paths, or Vindicates to be coming in the way of your Zur off of top decks. It also helps with Steel to untap and block after a swing, thus negating a ton of tempo by aggro decks. Shroud is very good against any deck packing Maze of Ith.

Possible Additions:
Maindeck: Exclusions:
Pernicious Deeds – Generally I do not like adding in a 4th color, and the situations where grabbing a Deed with Zur is better than grabbing a Thread or O-ring are few, assuming you have other things on board you want to protect like CB/Top. A 1-of can possibly be included even without a 4th color if you want to brainstorm it away.

Vedalken Shackles - Being a largely control deck, this is a good addition to other control elements. Extra basic Islands are warranted though.

Sower of Temptation - The deck wants to hit 4 mana and go from there, so Sower can find a good home here.

Elspeth - Again, a control deck who curves out at 4, Elspeth is a possible route to take.

Engineered Explosives - A way to deal with problem creatures/artifacts/enchantments, it’s a decent choice, but possible mal-interactions between it and Counterbalance or any of the 3cc spells make it slightly against the synergy.

Lim-Dul’s Vault - Okay, this is my addition that has great synergy with Counterbalance, and finds your silver bullet enchantments that you want to find. If there were ever a deck for which this card fits, I’d imagine this is it (this sentence was written before the time of Dream Halls deck).

The Sideboard
Having access to every enchantment under 3cc gives the deck a gigantic range of sideboard options, quite possibly more than any other deck in the format. Here is a list for any of you who like to test out those seldom thought about enchantments. I've literally read every enchantment in magic that costs 3 or less in compiling this, however some enchantments may have been left out that would be good metagame inclusions.

Non enchantments:
Meddling Mage - Good against many things, especially combo (because it is relevant), and decks that have a certain card that you really don’t want to see (Something that recurs Wastelands like Life from the Loam perhaps).

Hydroblast/Blue Elemental Blast – This deck has a tough time against quick burn and zoo sometimes. Hydroblast acts as a counter to their sided in Pyroblasts, and does a good job to shut off their attempt to kill your Zur with double burn (assuming you don’t have Counterbalance out).

Tormod’s Crypt
Relic of Progenitus
Powder Keg
Pithing Needle
Krosan Grip

The Enchantments
Elephant Grass (for 4 color only)
Circle of Protection: Red
Declaration of Naught
Threads of Disloyalty
Engineered Plague
Suppression Field
Seal of Cleansing
Dueling Grounds
Aura of Silence
Karmic Justice
Back to Basics
Bitterblossom
Oblivion Ring
Energy Flux
Runed Halo
Planar Void
Story Circle
Propaganda
Warmth
Chill


The Fourth Color:
Zur is a mana-hungry deck and wants to hit 3 by turn 3, and have enough for Zur when your opponent isn’t going to have an answer. With all of the Stifle/Wasteland and other things like recurring wastelands going around these days, I would say it’s probably not a good idea to get greedy and go 4.



Matchups

Outdated

[Jaynel]

Pemmin's Aura seems pretty good when attached to a 1/4 body. Also, Swords to Plowshares is probably better creature control than paying :2::w: every turn.

Edit: Also, Greater Auramancy?

[Brushwagg]

Diplomatic Immunity (http://magiccards.info/mm/en/75.html) is something you might want to look at.

[KillemallCFH]

Diplomatic Immunity (http://magiccards.info/mm/en/75.html) is something you might want to look at.Shielding Plax seems better. It cantrips and you can still slap your own auras on Zur through it. If you're really that worried about "Krosan Grip on Plax, Removal on Zur," you can just run 2, and find both of them if you fear Krosan Grip.

[Phoenix Ignition]

Thanks for the comments! I should have mentioned cards that didn't work in the deck previously in the opening post.

I originally tried out Pemmin's Aura in here as a way to protect Zur and turn him into a morphling, but it really wasn't necessary. If he gets 1-2 swings in he's more than made up for his cost, and it is usually enough advantage to win me the game since the enchantments I put into play for free are going to be very helpful for whatever situation.

The thing about Pemmin or any other "you can't target me" enchantment is that it won't be good unless I already have a swinging Zur in play, so it will usually just be a dead card. I'm trying to keep all enchantments in this deck strictly good unless it completely hoses a specific deck that I have troubles with. Sideboard slots are probably all I'll give up, since I already attempted this deck with a bunch of toolkit enchantments that just were dead cards.

[Isamaru]

A favorite Aura of mine is Sleeper's Robe.

My Zur deck featured 4 Sage of Epityr to always have a Robe target (possibly turn 2), and Solitary Confinement as a combo with Sleeper's Robe on Zur. The Robe fuels the gotten Confinement, while Zur is getting you a new Enchantment every turn.

I used Paralyze as my creature control.

[GreenOne]

A couple of things I tried in my ZurTheCasual.dec just as brainstorming:

Standstill
Crackdown
Griffin Guide
Empyrial armor
Necromancy
Dystopia
Aura of silence

[georgjorge]

You might want to take a look at that deck (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8619&highlight=karach) which was a finalist at the last CanG. It looks like it plays somewhat differently, but Zur, CBalance+Top and other stuff is all there.

[Phoenix Ignition]

I should also mention my playtesting with Standstill. Standstill is only an okay card in this deck if I decide to run Mishra's Factory, which considerably weakens the mana base (and is completly unnecessary). I also hate the fact that a lot of decks can run under standstill far more efficiently than this deck, even with the manlands added.

I would also like to add that I didn't write this post just so people can post random (and I must say mostly terrible) enchantments without giving any reasons for running them. How would drawing an extra card win me a game more than, say, stealing their creature or removing their threats?

Try this deck out before mentioning any more random enchantments. I did look at every enchantment in UWB that costs 3 or less before coming up with a final decklist, so please back up whatever you say with examples of why it would be better than a card in here.

[Sek'Kuar]

What about Daybreak Coronet? Making Zur a beatstick can finish games rapidly, the lifelink keeps you in games you would never have won without it, and the First Strike makes Zur superior to most creatures. With a Steel of the Godhead, he becomes a ridiculous 6/9 unblockable, double-lifelinking beatstick. If that doesn't end games, nothing will. Include the Coronet.

[Phoenix Ignition]

Tried it... sucks without having an enchantment on already. And doubling up in the Steel of the Godhead is so close to using Coronet that the huge drawback on coronet makes it suck.

It's also a dead card that's not pitchable for FoW, unlike Steel.

If a double Steel'd Zur (5/8) beatstick double lifelink doesn't win games nothing will either.

[Moczoc]

I don't know what I'd cut for it but "Lim Duls Vault" seem to fit in the deck perfectly, it:

- fetches Zur
- fetches the silver-bullet enchantments
- is great to get the right cmc on the Lib for CB
- always can get you the missing part of CounterTop

[pi4meterftw]

Hm. So first I'll give suggestions for the sideboard and then I'll critique the deck as a whole.

Aura of silence, phyrexian arena, arcane laboratory (Maybe this should even make it main.)

These are naive suggestions without testing, but the sole point is to perhaps bring cards to your attention that you have not thought of before.

Now, yesterday I played you with the deck I posted in the established decks forum, and you won, but for a reason that might be worth considering. I don't know if this happens often, but decks that tend to try to disrupt you seem like they'd get away with murder. I only ran swords and 6 counters, but what happens against control? You might be writing off control as a loss, but isn't it kind of dangerous if you show up at a tournament only ready to pounce on aggro? In extended, I think it might be okay, but in legacy I'm not sure what the tournament scene looks like. You might be running counterbalance, which also helps versus combo, but against combo everybody trades down and then you are left with a more fragile win condition than they.

The deck is creative though. We should test it more.

[Drac]

In my oppinion you should run 1 moat and 1 hoofprints of the stag

Yes it does stop Meddling Mage and Guildmage from attacking. But Zur still flies. And you could win alot of matches game 1 by dropping a moat on them. The hoofprints is obviously good together with moat. But it also has good synergy with brainstorm/ponder/top(or Tops).

Just some thoughts.

[Jaynel]

In my oppinion you should run 1 moat and 1 hoofprints of the stag

Yes it does stop Meddling Mage and Guildmage from attacking. But Zur still flies. And you could win alot of matches game 1 by dropping a moat on them. The hoofprints is obviously good together with moat. But it also has good synergy with brainstorm/ponder/top(or Tops).

Just some thoughts.

Zur can't fetch out Moat.

[Citrus-God]

Zur can't fetch out Moat.

You get Story Circle, or you chain Propaganda effects.

[Phoenix Ignition]

In my oppinion you should run 1 moat and 1 hoofprints of the stag

Yes it does stop Meddling Mage and Guildmage from attacking. But Zur still flies. And you could win alot of matches game 1 by dropping a moat on them. The hoofprints is obviously good together with moat. But it also has good synergy with brainstorm/ponder/top(or Tops).

Just some thoughts.

Like they said, moat would just be a 1 of card that I can't fetch for. The thing about saying I should run hoofprints is that you haven't tried out the deck yet, because if you did, you would have realized that the deck doesn't need an extra win condition.


Also, some changes from testing. -1 Story Circle, -1 O-ring, +2 Bitterblossom.

This change has been brought on by my lack of guys to block big creatures, tombstalker and goyf. After I get the Zur out and have him unblockable + lifelink, bitterblossom will just chump block whatever until I win. Also, it is an early wall-making card to help against any fast decks.

Story circle seemed good on paper, but I never actually searched for it and it usually would end up as a dead card. The -1 o-ring has been because bitterblossom effectively stops their creature anyway, so I can deal with not o-ringing it.

Any more insight would be nice.


I don't know what I'd cut for it but "Lim Duls Vault" seem to fit in the deck perfectly, it:

- fetches Zur
- fetches the silver-bullet enchantments
- is great to get the right cmc on the Lib for CB
- always can get you the missing part of CounterTop

I like Lim-Dul's Vault, and it seems like it would work well in here, but I'm all full on cantrips right now. I can't think of any cards to take out for it except brainstorm or ponder (not brainstorm for sure), but ponder is better at setting up early on, and is one of my 10 one drops, which is a good number. I would consider taking out 1 of each of the 2 copies enchantments, but they're both really good and I like being able to draw them. I'll test that a bit though since I can remember some scenarios where this would be great.

[Citrus-God]

An interesting card to consider is Bitterblossom. It's a threat and solid defense all in one. You could tutor it up with Zur, or you can drop it early and slowly dominate the game.

Edit. Way to self-serve myself, I think you just put it on now... merr...

Edit 2. Ghostly Prison and Rule of Law are better than Propaganda and Arcane Lab; REB is present.

[klaus]

So I just played you, eh?! ...and got my butt kicked, hehe.
So here's your reward:

"Die-Fahrausweise-Zur-Kontrolle-Bitte"*

*In German, "zur" means "to (the)" or "for".
The phrase above is the common thing train conductors will say when demanding to see your ticket. I thought it was funny that it had "Kontrolle" (German: "check") in it, too - since it's a pure control deck, lol - I'm so creative!
Anyway, here we go:

1 Plains
3 Island
1 Swamp
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
4 Tundra
3 Underground Sea

4 Dark Confidant-----------As I said before this guy will be insane in your deck
3 Meddling Mage
4 Zur the Enchanter

4 Brainstorm
2 Ponder
4 Force of Will
4 Swords to Plowshares --- is a MUST, this is what let's survive till Zur hits, if your meta is full of STPs I could imagine switching to Smothers and being able to Chant STP without hurting your own resources. Actually, I'd still play STP over any other card in that slot.
You don't care about opponents gaining life as long as it helps you win in the long run, which it will more reliably than any alternative.

3 Counterbalance
3 SDT

3 Oblivion Ring
2 Steel of the Godhead
2 Threads of Disloyalty
2 Bitterblossom

SB
1 Energy Flux
2 Engineered Plague
1 Karmic Justice
3 Ghostly Prison (evades REBs)
1 Story Circle
2 Runed Halo
1 Sphere of Law (deserves some testing)
1 Back to Basics
2 Relic of Progenitus --- is a given, I guess
1 Enlightened Tutor (SuperToolbox_enabler!)

---
SB notes:
you don't need A. Laboratory, your combo MU is superb already.
Chill is inferior to most anti-red alternatives, since you don't go the mana denial route with the rest of your deck.
---
I guess now it's time to edit the opening post and update in all my incredibly good suggestions.

[Phoenix Ignition]

So I just played you, eh?! ...and got my butt kicked, hehe.
So here's your reward:

"Die-Fahrausweise-Zur-Kontrolle-Bitte"*

*In German, "zur" means "to (the)" or "for".
The phrase above is the common thing train conductors will say when demanding to see your ticket. I thought it was funny that it had "Kontrolle" (German: "check") in it, too - since it's a pure control deck, lol - I'm so creative!
Anyway, here we go:

1 Plains
3 Island
1 Swamp
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
4 Tundra
3 Underground Sea

4 Dark Confidant-----------As I said before this guy will be insane in your deck
3 Meddling Mage
4 Zur the Enchanter

4 Brainstorm
2 Ponder
4 Force of Will
4 Swords to Plowshares --- is a MUST, this is what let's survive till Zur hits, if your meta is full of STPs I could imagine switching to Smothers and being able to Chant STP without hurting your own resources. Actually, I'd still play STP over any other card in that slot.
You don't care about opponents gaining life as long as it helps you win in the long run, which it will more reliably than any alternative.

3 Counterbalance
3 SDT

3 Oblivion Ring
2 Steel of the Godhead
2 Threads of Disloyalty
2 Bitterblossom

SB
1 Energy Flux
2 Engineered Plague
1 Karmic Justice
3 Ghostly Prison (evades REBs)
1 Story Circle
2 Runed Halo
1 Sphere of Law (deserves some testing)
1 Back to Basics
2 Relic of Progenitus --- is a given, I guess
1 Enlightened Tutor (SuperToolbox_enabler!)

---
SB notes:
you don't need A. Laboratory, your combo MU is superb already.
Chill is inferior to most anti-red alternatives, since you don't go the mana denial route with the rest of your deck.
---
I guess now it's time to edit the opening post and update in all my incredibly good suggestions.

Thanks Klaus! I'm going to start requesting that everyone I beat posts here :cool: . I like the Dark Confidant, but the creature I had in when I played you is still on the table.

I'll try out the Swords. I'm not sold on getting rid of mage and steel, since I've won probably 25% of the games by just swinging for 4 with steel on mage.

The sideboard looks good except for sphere of law. It costs 4 so I'd have to hardcast it. What do you think about using Warmth instead? Somewhat similar effects except for against goblins.

B2B I've considered before. I don't know if it's the best since it probably owns me harder than them, and is only good when Zur is out. Looks like more of a win-more card to me.




Edit 2. Ghostly Prison and Rule of Law are better than Propaganda and Arcane Lab; REB is present.

Interesting point. Blue follows my mana base so much easier though and is FoW pitchable. Might be worth the test.

[GreenOne]

Interesting point. Blue follows my mana base so much easier though and is FoW pitchable. Might be worth the test.
Blasts are played almost only by combo decks. I'd play Propaganda and Rule of Law. Rarely combo decks relies on ETW nowadays (Ad N).

[klaus]

B2B has the potential to wreck a considerable amount of decks:

Aggro Loam
4cc LS
Team America
Stax (3 Factory, 4 wasteland,7-8 2mana lands, Flagstones)
43 lands.dec
Affinity
the list goes on, not bad for a 1 card combo.

[Phoenix Ignition]

I've updated the list. I tried out swords to plowshares and was not thrilled with it. I'll playtest it some more, but I really missed having the ponder, the extra mage, the extra steel, and the extra o-ring.

I've put dark confidants in Azorius' slot. He's way better if he sticks, but eating swords instead of Zur is probably the best reason to keep him. Also amazing against any sort of control.

My stax matchup has improved considerably with the addition of bitterblossom.

[mans0011]

Shielding Plax seems better. It cantrips and you can still slap your own auras on Zur through it. If you're really that worried about "Krosan Grip on Plax, Removal on Zur," you can just run 2, and find both of them if you fear Krosan Grip.

I don't know if this has been addressed, but since Zur's ability puts the enchantments into play, any unattached auras will be attached without targeting. Same idea behind copy enchantment for faith's fetters on an opponent's Kodama of the North Tree from standard a few years back. So Diplomatic Immunity doesn't actually hurt, here. The cantrip is delicious, however.

[Forbiddian]

It seems like a number of enchantments are pretty crappy and you never want to draw into them (especially Steel of the Godhead).

I think that one should be a 1-of at most, and with the free slot, you could add Swords. At the very least, Empyrial Armor or something seems like a better alternative than +2/+2, since Steel of the Godhead does not stack at all.




The biggest problem with Zur, obviously, is the UWB part of the CC. I guess everyone else is stretching themselves pretty thin in their respective decks, but land destruction decks (or even just 4 Stifle 4 Wasteland decks) might be able to deaden a big chunk of your deck.

I'd test black decks (TA, Eva Green, even Black Thresh), since those are all looking to exploit high CC decks.

Also, I think Aura of Silence > Energy Flux. I'd probably maindeck two Aura of Silence. It's just such a beastly hard-lock against Stax/Affinity and they can trade with problematic enchantments later.

[Hof]

It seems like a number of enchantments are pretty crappy and you never want to draw into them (especially Steel of the Godhead).
I have to agree with this - Steel of G. seems underwhelming. Empyrial Armor + Pemmins Aura seems like a better option, since it's a much faster clock. Is Lifelink really necessary?

This deck http://www.deckcheck.net/deck.php?id=22789 plays Deed, which is powerful enough to consider running including 1 Tropical for.

How about playing 1 Copy Enchantment? It allows us to 'double up' on stuff like Oblivion Ring, Engineered Plague, etc. without including multilple copies of each in the deck.

[wolfstorm]

The thing is is steel makes it unblockable which is pretty sexy, life link is just a bonus IMO.

http://www.wizards.com/magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/aa235
Some neat things about him also, apparently you can steal Nimble mongooses with threads etc if you use him to put them into play since the enchantments don't target. ;)

[DS2]

This is my version of Zur!

Lands

2 flooded strand
2 island
1 swamp
1 plains
3 tundra
3 underground sea
2 tropical island
3 polluted delta
3 mishra's factory

Creatures

4 dark confidant
3 Zur the enchanter

Spells

4 brainstorm
4 force of will
3 counterspell
4 swords to plowshares
2 path to exile
2 spell snare
2 Top
2 counterbalance
2 oblivion ring
2 threads of disloyalty
2 steel of the godhead
1 pemmin's aura
1 standstill
1 pernicious deed
1 hoofprints of the stag
1 moat

[DS2]

I think this deck needs more attention.

I've tested this a bit and it is a great deck

http://www.deckcheck.net/deck.php?id=24562 here someone won a tournament with zur the enchanter and it isn't the first one to win or goes T8 with this deck on a tournament with at least 35-70 men.

[godryk]

This deck is seeing moderate play in many of the Spanish Legacy leagues and getting some decent results in dtb-status tournaments. So that the deck is getting some attention from local boards.

If you watch lists like this (http://www.deckcheck.net/deck.php?id=24562) you'll see the deck has evolved from previous more rogue stages to a NLU-esque deck with good stuff such as CB+Top, Confidant or Swords to Plowshares.

[GGoober]

seems like the deck also need 2 Standstill. If Zur beats, your opponent is probably already on the losing side. If he gets StPed, then he gets StPed :P

[johanessen]

seems like the deck also need 2 Standstill. If Zur beats, your opponent is probably already on the losing side. If he gets StPed, then he gets StPed :P

This is why we play full playset of confidants, stp goes for em

[Master Shake]

I think that its important to have these lists that have been placing in Spain as links hopefully in the opening thread.

Jorge Luengo Tabernero

http://www.deckcheck.net/deck.php?id=22789
http://www.deckcheck.net/deck.php?id=23807
http://www.deckcheck.net/deck.php?id=24562

Daniel Rodriguez

http://www.deckcheck.net/deck.php?id=24104
http://www.deckcheck.net/deck.php?id=23265
http://www.deckcheck.net/deck.php?id=23666

There is a bit of variation between the lists and that's all open to discussion, but Jorge's lists have some weight to them as he has placed in the t8 at 3 30+ player events in the last three months and two of these finishes were first place.

The first of his lists (also linked above) is:


Mainboard:
4 Mishra's Factory
3 Wasteland
4 Tundra
4 Underground Sea
1 Tropical Island
1 Plains
1 Swamp
1 Island
1 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta

2 Standstill
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
3 Dark Confidant
1 Pernicious Deed
2 Duress
2 Thoughtseize
2 Counterbalance
3 Spell Snare
1 Steel of the Godhead
3 Stifle
1 Shielding Plax
3 Zur the Enchanter
1 Threads of Disloyalty
2 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Swords to Plowshares
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Counterspell

Sideboard:
3 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Counterbalance
3 Chill
1 Engineered Plague
1 Energy Flux
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Suppression Field
1 Aura of Silence
1 Propaganda
1 Seal of Cleansing

Its easy to see that he wants to place nicely with Standstill, using Factories and Wastelands so that he can play under it if he happens to play against an opponent who doesn't break it, or if he plays it early on.

His list quickly drops Standstills and solidifies the mana base a couple of months later when he wins again (again, also linked above.)


Mainboard:
4 Dark Confidant
3 Zur the Enchanter
1 Sower of Temptation
4 Brainstorm
1 Counterspell
4 Force of Will
3 Spell Snare
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Counterbalance
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Pemmin's Aura
2 Pernicious Deed
1 Steel of the Godhead
1 Threads of Disloyalty
4 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Vedalken Shackles
2 Flooded Strand
2 Island
1 Plains
4 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
3 Tropical Island
4 Underground Sea
4 Tundra

Sideboard:
3 Meddling Mage
1 Aura of Silence
2 Chill
1 Circle of Protection: Red
1 Energy Flux
2 Engineered Plague
1 Seal of Cleansing
1 Threads of Disloyalty
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Scepter of Fugue

He drops all of his Duress effects, Standstills, Shielding Plax and Stifles to load up on Counter-Top, another Prenicious Deed, Sower of Temptation and a Vedalken Shackles. He also finishes off his set of StP in the main deck.

He drops a land now that he's not running 7 colorless sources.

I haven't tested the deck, yet; but I'm very interested in playing with it and seeing its match-ups against the gauntlet. I'll very likely begin my testing with his exact list, with minor modifications to the maindeck and sideboard:

Maindeck changes:

-1 Polluted Delta
+1 Flooded Strand

-1 Scepter of Fuge
+1 Rule of Law

I can see myself wanting to add Duress/Thoughtseize back into the mix, and I'm also pretty surprised not to see a copy of Runed Halo between the board and main. I'm not certain if a 4/4 Split on Counterbalance Top is called for.

Another thought of mine is to have an enchantment means of Graveyard disruption, either Planar Void or Wheel of Sun and Moon, if its the latter, there is a large portion of me that wants to see Energy Field go to with it.

I like the idea of running Back to Basics in this deck as a one-or-two of. Its a real power house, but Jorge's mana base cannot support it. Skewing the mana base towards basics is the best way I can see to utilize it. 8 Fetchlands, 3 Islands, 2 Plains 2 Swamp leaves you with six slots for dual lands. Cutting down to one Pernicious Deed makes sense in this example as you'll be reducing your ability and likely your need to play it. Playing Eternal Dragon can allow you access to your plains more easily, and perhaps running a copy of Scrubland would be nice.

My final thought for the deck right now is to run 3 Enlightened Tutors in the SB, as it seems like when you're boarding in Enchantments, you want to see them and don't want to just depend on Zur giving them to you. SB tutors also enables you to play Moat more reliably against something like goblins or Zoo.

[DS2]

once you got CB+top on board,you don't have to worry anymore of STP,because it will always get countered

[The Wolf]

This may be too much of a zur focused card, but it seems like lightning greves would be amazing in a zur deck. Not only does it protect a resolved zur, but it gives him haste. I would have to believe that its GG if a zur gets into play, cant be targeted and gets to attack immediately.

[(nameless one)]

you do realize that sphere of law has a CC of 4

and i agree with propaganda and arcane laboratory over ghostly prison and rule of law. i mean not everyone runs REBs right?

[hi-val]

Although it may end up being hopelessly casual, you might be able to run Bearscape. It's one of my favorite cards that I haven't found a home for. Bearscape can make several furry friends the turn that it comes out and it not awful as an alternate win card. Zur also grabs Holistic Wisdom, which will recur counters and other goodies if you want to protect Zur or use him in a different way. I guess what I'm saying is that there might be other options than just getting Auras on him and swinging. For example, Pillory of the Sleepless might be an option.

[Shades]

And if you are already playing with Divining Tops, you could easily play one copy of Future Sight!

[Guevera59]

Isn't Bitterblossom wayyy too slow? By the time you fetch it with Zur, it'll be turn 5-7. That seems too far in the game to make a lasting impact.

[hi-val]

Isn't Bitterblossom wayyy too slow? By the time you fetch it with Zur, it'll be turn 5-7. That seems too far in the game to make a lasting impact.

Yeah, the only use I could see for Bitterblossom at that point would be supporting Contamination, which would also be far too slow.

[Master Shake]

This may be understood without me saying it, but Bearscape seems really awful [for this deck.]

And Holistic Wisdom requires kind of a heavy green investment if you don't grab it with Zur, and the card seems like it shines only before Zur comes down. I love Holiistic Wisdom as well, but with the dilution of the deck's spells with Enchantments, it doesn't seem all that great to me.

[rufus]

Considering that this deck uses Bob and Zur, I wonder about Vedalken Aethermage.

Since we're living in the goyf era, I wonder whether Tidal Control is a strong card since the deck isn't playing red or green.

[Master Shake]

I played a version of the deck in a weekly 1.5 tournament with this results:

Round 1 UGw threshold

Game 1: He gets an early Goyf and I StP it, a second one meets Oblivion Ring. I land Counter-Top and lock him out of the game. He doesn't seem too concerned and I learn that's because he has a Trygon Predator. I find an StP to deal with it. He concedes once I hit a Dark Confidant (my first creature)

Game 2: He gets a bunch of goyfs down and I don't find a way to reset

Game 3: He and I fight over my Counterbalance and then his Counterbalance. Both resolve, but his gets Oblivion Ringed and I get a Shackles on-line and I lock him out. Zur finally comes down this game but gets StPed, a major bummer.

Round 2: B/G/w Loam

Game 1: He gets a turn one Dark Confidant, I get a StP going. He starts wrecking my lands and if he resolves his Life From the Loam I'm basically out of the game. I manage to counter-Top him out of the game Including the all important Loam. He keeps throwing 2 costs at me and I keep juggling my top cards to ensure that I can counter his stuff.

Game 2: He lands another turn one confidant, this game goes for longer, I kill some threats and get Counter-top. He manages to remove the important part so he can resolve spells. I end up dying to a pair of Goyfs.

Game 3: We're really short on time so I need something amazing to happen. I get a hand that finally has a Zur in it. I StP something early and I get Zur to stick. Zur turns into Morphling with Lifelink and then I lay down Back to Basics which hits two of my lands and all but two of his lands. I establish Counter-Top the same turn. My opponent attacks into my Zur which untaps and doesn't kill Goyf, but doesn't die to it either, I just gain 3 life. He never hits the multiple Vindicates that he needs to win the game.

Round 3: U/g faeries.

Game 1: I think he's playing Ranger of Eos based Zoo (which he normally plays) But he ends up playing a Mishra's Factory... that's odd. On turn 3 I play a Top and he plays Spellstutter Sprite to counter it. Befuddled and confused, I play StP to make it so that he has zero faeries in play, I get my top. He plays a Goyf which I also StP, and It takes a few turns (and several beatings from Mishra's Factory) until I'm able to get Zur on-line. His attempts a Stp but it doesn't work, the same goes with Sower of Temptation. Zur Connects and ends up with 2 Steel of the Godhead on him (one Steel and one Copy Enchantment) My life total starts to sky rocket and he has now way to come back.

Game 2: He Spellstuter's my turn 2 top and turn three plays a goyf. I manage to stp that one and he plays another on turn 3. He plays his own top and starts digging. My 5th turn finally comes around (He has goyf Spellstutter) and I draw, he plays an end of draw step Vendillion Clique I brainstorm in response and before putting cards back to Brainstorm my hand is Zur, Zur, Dark Confidant, Force of Will, Counterbalance, Underground Sea. I put back Dark Confidant and Zur and let it resolve. He choses no target. I play my 5th land and play Zur. He resolves. My opponent screws around with his Tundra and one card in hand. I imagine he has StP but instead doesn't attack and passes the turn. I play draw a dead Zur, play Counterbalance attack with Zur getting Pemmin's Aura on him (Goyf is 2/3 and I'm safe at about 9 life.) He attempts to play both a Counterbalance and Sower of Temptation on his next turn. I reveal my own Sower of Temptation off of counterbalance to counter his (I leave a 4-cost on top because his counterbalance is useless right now.) He again doesn't attack, next turn Zur gets a Steel of the Godhead added to his utility belt and my opponent concedes shortly thereafter.

Round 4: Affinity.

Game one: I keep an all right hand and he explodes with two Disciple of the Vaults on turn 2. I'm able to spell snare a Ravager but it doesn't matter. I get hit by a bunch of guys and don't see Deed.

Game two: My hand is Land, Land Aura of Silence, Dark Confidant, Energy Flux, Force of Will Spell Snare. I keep, figuring that if I hit any land over the next several turns I win. I didn't even with an active confidant.

I play a few games casually

I go 6-2 against Merfolk and 3-2 against Eva Green.

Top 8 I lose 2-1 to the Loam deck that I beat in swiss.

Game 1: I lose because I miss my Solitary Confinement Trigger and move to my main phase. I have counter-top and a Dark confidant. I'm at 2 life. My opponent is at 7 life and has two active confidants. I would have won the game had I not lost to myself.

Game 2: I get a relatively quick Zur on-line and win.

Game 3: I get my first dose of mana screw on the day. I get a land wastelanded and two lands vindicated. That was it.

I want to do some more testing. I played 20 lands, and I played Phyrexian Arena, Solitary Confinement and Copy Enchantment in the main. I couldn't get a hold of a Threads of Disloyalty for this tournament. I'll post a full list in an edit to this. Copy Enchantment was all right, it did what I wanted it to. Phyrexian Arena wasn't amazing but I expected that I wouldn't be able to win games with Zur + Confinement alone and I didn't want something as narrow as Curosity. Confinement was amazing against aggro and is really worth looking at if a non-confidant way is found to support it.

3 Zur the Enchanter
4 Dark Confidant
1 Sower of Temptation

4 Sensei's Divining Top (Should have likely been 3)
1 Vedalken Shackles

4 Counterbalance
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Steel of the Godhead
1 Pemmin's Aura
1 Copy Enchantment
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Solitary Confinement
2 Pernicious Deed

3 Spell Snare
1 Counterspell
4 Force of Will
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Brainstorm

4 Underground Sea
4 Tundra
4 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
1 Plains
3 Island
1 Swamp
2 Tropical Island

[Anusien]

What good is Pemmin's Aura in the deck? I know that technically it gives Zur shroud. But he's already out of Lightning Bolt range, and if you attack with Zur and get to put the trigger on the stack, they don't have Plowshares or they'd use it already. Is this just to stop the "Oops they topdeck StP" phenomenon? It seems like Counterbalance or Declaration of Naught are better cards there. Or is it so you can also use Zur as a blocker. If you just have one or two guys to fight off, Threads of Disloyalty or Oblivion Ring are better answers, and it seems like Genju of the Fields or Pernicious Deed are better answers there.

How often do you need Zur to stop a whole creature rush? I'm toying with cutting Pernicious Deed and replacing it with Engineered Explosives; it's more efficient at blowing up one-drops from Zoo and doesn't make your mana awful. Plus, now you get an Academy Ruins which can stop Ruins lock from other blue decks.

What are the must-haves for the sideboard?

[Phoenix Ignition]

I have never needed the Deeds and after testing have dropped all green. It just isn't necessary, and weakens the mana base. Also, most of the time either the lifelink or Threads will put you out of mob range. I've considered just leaving a 1-of Deeds in there just for a panic button when you get out Zur, but I really don't like running any green mana producers.

Pemmin's Aura is good for 2 reasons, the first being I only see room for 2 enchantments to put on Zur in the deck. You only need 1 to hit, but with a semi-low FoW count I always pitch those two spells first it seems. Second, since lifelink doesn't stack anymore, 2 Steel isn't worth it.

But why Pemmin is worth it is for all of it's abilities. Some situations you want to swing with Zur, but need him up for the blocker + lifelink. Other times you want to turn him from a 3/6 lifelink to a 7/2 Lifelink to get the damage in, and other times you need to stop the Vindicate or StP or whatever other removal you can't seem to hit with the CB.

I should post an update to the decklist in the primer, it's undergone some changes since then.

As for sideboard I've found that there are a couple blow-out enchantments that are good to run, like a singleton Back to Basics, Engineered Plagues, possibly Propaganda, and usually 1 Pernicious Deed.

Other than that I consider Warmth, extra threads, Ruined Halo, Chill, Story Circle, and aura of silence to be pretty good depending on your metagames.

The deck has a hard time against Zoo and Merfolk (I wouldn't call it a blowout, more about 40%s) so it is a good idea to run at least a warmth, chill, or story circle, and either story circle or some plagues in the sideboard.

[Anusien]

But why Pemmin is worth it is for all of it's abilities. Some situations you want to swing with Zur, but need him up for the blocker + lifelink. Other times you want to turn him from a 3/6 lifelink to a 7/2 Lifelink to get the damage in, and other times you need to stop the Vindicate or StP or whatever other removal you can't seem to hit with the CB.
If you get a swing in with Zur, they don't have Vindicate or StP.
If you need to race, Oblivion Ring or Threads or Genju all seem much better. I get that in theory you'd like to untap Zur and block with him or whatever, but I doubt you actually want to spend the mana doing that. You've got CSPell and Brainstorm and Force and Spell Snare and StP as better ways to spend your mana. I did some testing last night and not only did I never want to get Pemmin's Aura, but I rarely wanted to get Steel of the Godhead. It's probably fine against Zoo just to get your life total up, but I wonder if something else wouldn't be better.

Every Zur list I've seen has a way to give Zur shroud, and I'm pretty sure it's unnecessary. If you're really that paralyzed of removal, getting Declaration of Naught is better because it also stops Academy Ruins + EE shenanigans. Plus Declaration can go name Lightning Bolt or Fireblast against Zoo.

[Phoenix Ignition]

Genju of the Fields is awful, it doesn't have evasion so doesn't actually beat anyone at all. Lifelink still doesn't stack, so gaining 2 life a turn is not going to help much. If Zur gets a swing in it doesn't mean someone can't draw their out, or maybe they attempted one of many in their had but you had a FoW on it.

After you get out Zur, you don't need to spend almost any mana. It's simple to keep 1 blue up if you cast a 4cc spell last turn. The most I ever use mana on after Zur is out is to keep countering stuff with CB/Top.

I think Steel is one of the best possible things to grab with Zur, especially against Zoo/Burn/any deck with red. Gaining the extra life is huge and wins races.

And what do you have against Pemmins Aura? It doubles as removal on their creatures, lets you block if you want, gives shroud against the top deck, or lets you beat quickly. EE at 4 is almost never going to happen, it's really hard for anyone to hit (3 is more likely, especially to blow up all the enchants you put out at 3), the only decks that can EE for 4 is I think it's the fear, but I don't really know that deck very well.

I really think Declaration of Naught is horrible, but I guess if you wanted to test it maybe it has a chance.

On a side note, I've been testing out In The Eye Of Chaos as a sideboard against combo, or anyone trying to use a Krosan Grip. With Back to Basics it's pretty ridiculous.

Also, probably danger of cool things, but I like Mana Vortex.

[Frozen_Fire]

Genju of the Fields is awful, it doesn't have evasion so doesn't actually beat anyone at all. Lifelink still doesn't stack, so gaining 2 life a turn is not going to help much. If Zur gets a swing in it doesn't mean someone can't draw their out, or maybe they attempted one of many in their had but you had a FoW on it.


Note that after M10 old lifelink instances turned back to original wording, so Genju's "Lifelink" ability does stack.

[Phoenix Ignition]

Note that after M10 old lifelink instances turned back to original wording, so Genju's "Lifelink" ability does stack.


Okay, but still, the most you'll ever get it for is spending 4 mana to get him up to a 4 life gain. That is about what Zur gains, but you don't have to spend 4 mana a turn on Zur.

Not to mention, before you get Zur out you do not want to put your lands at risk of being plowed. Steel you can slap on a Jotun grunt and really swing the game against burn decks.

[Forbiddian]

In the Eye of Chaos only counters instants.

That means it's not even good against ANT, because they can IGG loop or Doomsday without using instants. It does stop any Ad Nauseum attempt passed turn 3, but that's not a huge deal.

It'd only stop Kgrip or, like, Solidarity.

[Phoenix Ignition]

Yeah I fixed that before you posted that. Also, stopping the K grip against your CB (or whatever else) is going to seal the game.

Granted double CB could do the same thing, but you could have a bad top deck on CB and no top out.

EDIT: And saying that stopping all of their instant mana accel is "not a huge deal" is laughable.

[Forbiddian]

Yeah I fixed that before you posted that. Also, stopping the K grip against your CB (or whatever else) is going to seal the game.

Granted double CB could do the same thing, but you could have a bad top deck on CB and no top out.

EDIT: And saying that stopping all of their instant mana accel is "not a huge deal" is laughable.

I think you said something about you board it in against Stax because it has 4cc Sorceries or something. I see that you ninja edited.

I said it only stops Ad Nauseum after turn 3, which is dumb. They can still easily win off of IGG loop or Doomsday, that means as a 1-off, it's a piece of shit because you're better off fetching Counterbalance if you ever land a Zur hit anyway.

And, I'll point out: It doesn't shut down Dark Ritual. Dark Ritual still gives them positive mana return. Sure, it's only half strength, but it can still be used the same as a Cabal Ritual pre-threshold (which I wouldn't consider "shut down"). It only shuts down Cabal Ritual (+B if you happen to have 3B lying around and Threshold)

In the Eye of Chaos is the softest hate ever against Ad Nauseum Tendrils. It's basically Meddling Mage naming Ad Nauseum (we know that's not good), except it comes down turn 3 instead of turn 2.


Anyway, did you update your deck in the last year? What's the new list?

[Anusien]

Genju of the Fields is awful, it doesn't have evasion so doesn't actually beat anyone at all. Lifelink still doesn't stack, so gaining 2 life a turn is not going to help much. If Zur gets a swing in it doesn't mean someone can't draw their out, or maybe they attempted one of many in their had but you had a FoW on it.
...
And what do you have against Pemmins Aura? It doubles as removal on their creatures, lets you block if you want, gives shroud against the top deck, or lets you beat quickly. EE at 4 is almost never going to happen, it's really hard for anyone to hit (3 is more likely, especially to blow up all the enchants you put out at 3), the only decks that can EE for 4 is I think it's the fear, but I don't really know that deck very well.
Genju of the Fields seems like it does the job of Pemmin's Aura + Steel of the Godhead, but better. It lets you swing with Zur each turn, but still have a blocker to gain 4 life. I'm not 100% sold on this card, but it seems to cover most of the situations where Pemmin's Aura was useful. My question becomes "How often do you need something for this exact situation?"

It's nice that you tell me EE @ 4 can't happen, only it totally can. Anyway, I'm not disputing that Pemmin's Aura has some marginal utility. I'm just asking whether it's worth a slot. You can't cast it on Zur the turn you cast it, and it's sort of bad on a Dark Confidant. So the only question is, "In the Zoo matchup, is this worth searching out?"


I think Steel is one of the best possible things to grab with Zur, especially against Zoo/Burn/any deck with red. Gaining the extra life is huge and wins races.
Sure, Steel seems really good against Zoo decks (and I'm wondering if Genju does what Steel does but better, since it blocks to save you 3 damage and gains 4). But multiple Steels are terrible.


I really think Declaration of Naught is horrible, but I guess if you wanted to test it maybe it has a chance.
In testing, the only way I was losing was to things like Wrath of God and recurring Engineered Explosives off Academy Ruins. This fixes both issues.

[Phoenix Ignition]

Genju of the Fields seems like it does the job of Pemmin's Aura + Steel of the Godhead, but better. It lets you swing with Zur each turn, but still have a blocker to gain 4 life. I'm not 100% sold on this card, but it seems to cover most of the situations where Pemmin's Aura was useful. My question becomes "How often do you need something for this exact situation?"
Pemmin's Aura is useful when you don't have a SDT out to pair with your CB, thus leaving your Zur wide open to spot removal. Genju of the Fields may gain 4 life, but he won't be killing any of the opponent's creatures. Even a 3/6 Zur can take down zoo creatures. And as I've said, it's good against zoo, ridiculous against burn, and helps against any other quick kill decks that we may be able to stall with CB. These were the tougher matchups.

And again, if you don't have countertop lock out, getting a plains PtE or StP'd ruins genju.

Last but not least, Unblockable + lifelink the turn you swing with him is better than waiting to swing with a Genju, so I would not take out Steel of the Godhead. There have been many times (I've tested with this deck enough for it to happen many times) where the opponent has ample flier damage to block and kill Zur.



It's nice that you tell me EE @ 4 can't happen, only it totally can.
Cool! I didn't know you argued by reading something I said, completely disregarding it and putting some other words in my mouth! Well, this makes it tough to argue... but I'll just say again, EE at 4 is almost never going to happen. In fact, I'll even go on to say this time that most of the time it's probably the wrong call by the player playing it, because EE@3 is going to blow up almost all of the relevant enchantments we get with Zur, and if a few swings have already happened, then chances are we are close to out of relevant enchantments left in the deck.



Anyway, I'm not disputing that Pemmin's Aura has some marginal utility. I'm just asking whether it's worth a slot. You can't cast it on Zur the turn you cast it, and it's sort of bad on a Dark Confidant. So the only question is, "In the Zoo matchup, is this worth searching out?"
Depends what they have out. That's the beauty of utility. And never forget that it is removal if you need it. I've used it to kill opposing creatures as much as I have used it to enchant the enchanter



Sure, Steel seems really good against Zoo decks (and I'm wondering if Genju does what Steel does but better, since it blocks to save you 3 damage and gains 4). But multiple Steels are terrible.
Now multiple steels are terrible, and that has changed (as I said before, but I'm wondering if you read it) since M10 makes double lifelink not work, I don't run 2 anymore. Gaining 10 life a turn, however was enough to race any deck, so was worth it before.



In testing, the only way I was losing was to things like Wrath of God and recurring Engineered Explosives off Academy Ruins. This fixes both issues.
Seems far too narrow of a card to run maindeck to me. Seems like you have a good enough point to run it sideboard, if you truly do run into that many decks with EE@4 capability (seriously, how often does that happen? Most landstill don't run 4 color capability) or WoGs, but against 90% of the decks out there I'd say it's next to useless. I'd run Back to Basics since it shuts down not only the Academy, but also a good portion of decks out there (landstill, aggro loam, and can blindside any thresh or zoo deck).

[Anusien]

In case there was any question, the Solitary Confinement + Sleeper's Robe + Greater Auramancy plan is pretty awful. Too easy to just draw the wrong pieces while you're struggling on mana and lose.

[pi4meterftw]

You should run aven mimeomancer to turn confidant into a 3/1 flying, mage into a 3/1 flying, and zur into a 3/1 flying monster. Then it will be gg.

[Anusien]

You should run aven mimeomancer to turn confidant into a 3/1 flying, mage into a 3/1 flying, and zur into a 3/1 flying monster. Then it will be gg.
That seems like a wasted slot; I would rather just run an Exalted Angel. It does basically the same job, only better.

My maindeck:
4 Force of Will
3 Spell Snare
1 Counterspell

4 Swords to Plowshares

4 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Brainstorm

4 Dark Confidant
3 Zur the Enchanter

4 Counterbalance
2 Oblivion Ring
1 Steel of the Godhead
1 Declaration of Naught
1 Threads of Disloyalty

2 Engineered Explosives
1 Vedalken Shackles

4 Flooded Strand
1 Plains
3 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
4 Island
1 Academy Ruins
4 Tundra
4 Underground Sea

The singleton Declaration of Naught has been incredible to lock out recurring Engineered Explosives. There are lots of Academy Ruins around here. I have not really used the Explosives yet except turn 1 on 1 against Goblins, but Pernicious Deed was terrible for me.

I don't really have any complaints about the maindeck. Sideboard is waaay up in the air though.

[Phoenix Ignition]

That seems like a wasted slot; I would rather just run an Exalted Angel. It does basically the same job, only better.

Don't mind his suggestion, that was a poorly attempted troll post because I criticized a deck he made once. Notice the "then it will be gg" and generally retarded demeanor.



My maindeck:


The singleton Declaration of Naught has been incredible to lock out recurring Engineered Explosives. There are lots of Academy Ruins around here. I have not really used the Explosives yet except turn 1 on 1 against Goblins, but Pernicious Deed was terrible for me.

I don't really have any complaints about the maindeck. Sideboard is waaay up in the air though.

How have you liked the 1 Steel and no other buffing enchantments? I've often found myself having to Force with the steel and then beat them to death with a 1/4 Zur, which doesn't win the game a lot of the time (Mainly because they can swarm me or just have a tombstalker or something. My main reason for having a Pemmin's Aura in there is to just have another spell that turns Zur into a decent clock. Pemmin both kills opponents creatures, shrouds zur, or buffs him, so I've found it to be an acceptable choice.

The last thing I see is that I just don't really like EE in there. Is there a synergistic reason to run it other than just because it is good? I like using Ponders or even Lim-Dul's Vault over it (good for CB or to find a 1-of enchantment or Zur when you need it). Any opinions here?

Declaration of Naught also seems decent, provided you can make a decent decision on what is going to blow up your Zur (only reason I wouldn't like it is against a rock deck or something with Vindicate + StoP + Deeds or landstill with Wrath + Humility + Vindicate (sometimes)+ StoP).

I like your list though, you've polished the idea much more than I had originally. I will add it to the Primer and try to put some better information in there. Including a large list of possible sideboard options.

[Anusien]

You don't normally need to play games with Zur out. I guess against Eva Green or something they could make a guy and block Zur, but that's why you've got the Oblivion Rings. The rest of their deck is pretty cold to Counterbalance. I actually board Steel of the Godhead out against decks I don't need to race. I only keep it in against Zoo and Goblins and burn. I do board in Pemmin's Aura instead against decks that can only beat you with targeted removal. Usually not against decks with Edicts like Goblins or Eva Green.

I haven't tested enough with Explosives to tell you. You probably need extra removal against Zoo, and EE is a good choice. If I cut it, I'd probably go for something like Sower or Shackles, but those are both pretty slow cards. I really think you want another way to affect the board. Plus, the earlier Zur lists were very much Voltron style. You wanted to get a Zur and put a dozen auras on him, and then cry when they EE for 4 and kill him. Consequently they were all about blowing Deed for 2 to clear the board but keep the Zur. I want to use Zur to clear the board then get and maintain a CB lock. Consequently, I really don't want to activate Deed.

Naught isn't my first choice aura with Zur. Generally I get things in this order pre-board: Threads of Disloyalty/Oblivion Ring, Counterbalance, Declaration of Naught, Steel of the Godhead. The order changes based on the board and my life total, but the general idea is that you basically only go to Declaration of Naught to get the scoop. You lock things up with CB and get ahead on board, then figure out their one out and name it with Declaration.

Sideboard options I have on my shortlist:
Circle of Protection: Red
Greater Realm of Preservation
Sacred Ground
Back to Basics
Propaganda
Ghostly Prison
Arcane Laboratory
Rule of Law
Hoofprints of the Stag
Runed Halo
Wheel of Sun and Moon
Oblivion Ring
Threads of Disloyalty
Pemmin's Aura
Mind Harness
Standstill
Aura of Silence
Karmic Justice
Genju of the Fields

[pi4meterftw]

Don't mind his suggestion, that was a poorly attempted troll post because I criticized a deck he made once. Notice the "then it will be gg" and generally retarded demeanor.

I don't see how this is a poor suggestion, and I don't seem to remember any criticisms you've made of any of my decks. I bet you didnt even test aven mimeomancer before rejecting it... Anyhow...

Aven mimeomancer is seemingly good, but if you can't be convinced of that then perhaps you should consider stormscape familiar. He reduces the cost of two of the colors you play, and accelerates zur to turn 3, all while bringing your opponent's life total closer and closer to 0.

[Anusien]

I would like to fit a few Chrome Mox or Mox Diamond in the deck, but I don't know how/where yet.

[Phoenix Ignition]

Updated.

I tried a list with Mox Diamond, but it just felt like we don't need the mana that quickly, at the expense of card advantage. First turn Bob and CB are awesome but in general they didn't do enough to seal the victory, and then I'd be left with -1 cards in hand.

The pro's are obvious though, you can play Deeds easily (anti-synergy there though), you are less susceptible to land hate, and can run out Vials with a look.

[dr.knockers]

You would be left with -2 cards, since the moxen require imprint/ discard. Together with FoW you wouldn't have much cards in hand left.

[Phoenix Ignition]

You would be left with -2 cards, since the moxen require imprint/ discard.

You're left with -1 card, the mox counts as a land, which don't count as -1 card advantage. Notice I said card advantage, not physical cards.

[FoxBlade]

Well here's the deck I've been running:

// Lands
1 [RAV] Plains (3)
4 [ON] Flooded Strand
4 [ON] Polluted Delta
2 [RAV] Island (1)
4 [A] Underground Sea
4 [A] Tundra
1 [10E] Swamp (1)

// Creatures
3 [CS] Zur the Enchanter
4 [RAV] Dark Confidant
4 [ARB] Meddling Mage

// Spells
4 [CST] Brainstorm
4 [AL] Force of Will
3 [M10] Ponder
4 [CS] Counterbalance
3 [CHK] Sensei's Divining Top
4 [ALA] Oblivion Ring
1 [SHM] Steel of the Godhead
1 [SC] Pemmin's Aura
2 [BOK] Threads of Disloyalty
1 [MOR] Bitterblossom
1 [US] Energy Field
1 [US] Planar Void

// Sideboard
SB: 1 [BOK] Threads of Disloyalty
SB: 1 [MM] Energy Flux
SB: 1 [TE] Propaganda
SB: 1 [US] Back to Basics
SB: 1 [10E] Story Circle
SB: 2 [SHM] Runed Halo
SB: 1 [TE] Warmth
SB: 3 [TE] Chill
SB: 1 [UL] Engineered Plague
SB: 1 [10E] Aura of Silence
SB: 1 [MOR] Declaration of Naught
SB: 1 [OD] Karmic Justice

------------------------------------------------------------------

I thought before I remembered reading that meddling mage was in the main deck but now it looks like it's not. I like having them main deck simply because they can beat too and help stop some nonsense (or have them waste a card on him instead of zur), plus if I can't find zur - they work alright as a target for steel of the god head...

BTW: to the guy who made this thread, I really enjoyed reading it and I'm really glad you posted a really good article for it.

[Phoenix Ignition]

I thought before I remembered reading that meddling mage was in the main deck but now it looks like it's not. I like having them main deck simply because they can beat too and help stop some nonsense (or have them waste a card on him instead of zur), plus if I can't find zur - they work alright as a target for steel of the god head...

Your list looks strong. Meddling Mage hasn't been included in the most recent additions to the deck for two reasons really. First, legacy has left this little guy behind as each deck has multiple ways to kill things (Path, StoP), multiple ways to beat you through combo (AdN, IGG loop, wish into a kill spell), and multiple threats (either we got used to goyf being a big dumb creature or he's just not as scary anymore). His ability to shut down a deck has been worsened due to the diversification of Legacy, which is a sad thing to say.

Secondly, a 2/2 is not a clock anymore, even if you can shut down a deck with his ability. 2/2 for 2 is the worst power to mana cost ratio on any possible card you can see played right now, and usually that's just for Dark Confidant (who unanswered will win). I'm glad you like the Steel interaction with him. A long time ago I ran 2 Steels and 4 mages, and won maybe a third or more of my games by racing with a 4/4 unblockable lifelink who protected himself from swords. The shame of it is that I think he is only really good against a certain few decks where his ability can still be backbreaking. He deserves a spot in the sideboard to be sure, but right now I can't justify him being in the maindeck.

That all being said, I still really like his ability, and it is usually worth it for him to eat a removal spell instead of Zur. He's never really far from my mind, so he may one day find a home maindeck again.

Thanks for the compliment too, glad to hear my efforts were worth it for some people.:smile:

EDIT: Some advice on that list though is to take out a couple O rings to find room for Swords to Plowshares. Goblins, Merfolk, and zoo are popular enough now that fast kill spells beat out kill-anything spells. I would take out a bitter blossom and planar void for the other 2.

Also, Planar Void doesn't work with Energy Field if you were intending it to. The card still hits the graveyard and blows up your Energy Field. Wheel of Sun and Moon will work for that effect though, so I would suggest taking out the Planar Void for that.

[FoxBlade]

Thanks I appreciate the advice, I guess I should have read planar void a little more closely - cause it does clearly say it hits the graveyard first. Glad you caught that cause that could have been embarrassing X_X;

[grahf]

Is this deck even worth playing without countertop in there? Or another way to phrase: if the strength of countertop vs. the meta continues to decline, what (if anything) would you play in those slots instead?

Also, some probably terribly janky tech I found: Soothsaying, as a fetchable (but much worse) Top.

I too love the idea of this deck, and I'll build it one of these days when I get bored with landstill, as they share a substantially similar manabase.

[Anusien]

Is this deck even worth playing without countertop in there? Or another way to phrase: if the strength of countertop vs. the meta continues to decline, what (if anything) would you play in those slots instead?

Also, some probably terribly janky tech I found: Soothsaying, as a fetchable (but much worse) Top.

I too love the idea of this deck, and I'll build it one of these days when I get bored with landstill, as they share a substantially similar manabase.
I doubt it. When I picked up/tweaked my build of the deck, I built it to win mirrors with blue decks. You may be able to build a version of Zur to beat other decks, but I would start from scratch.

Edit: Also, I've been considering Soothsaying for a while. I don't think the deck needs a 5th Top though, and it's certainly not better than Tops 1-4.

[Phoenix Ignition]

Yeah... in all honesty this deck isn't the best to pick right now. It's matchups against zoo and tribal have been pretty poor (tribal can be helped out by maindeck Plagues or Propaganda if it comes to that), and those are the top decks right now.

If, however, your metagame is like Anusien said and other blue control decks, along with other mid to late range decks (Rock, Aggro Loam, Stax and the like), this deck has a lot to offer.

I'm waiting on pulling it out again until the meta shifts away from Zoo and towards other control decks again.

Soothsaying actually came paired with my set of Counterbalances when I bought them a couple years ago, but I don't think they're worth it. The main problem is that they don't flip on top of your deck to stop Swords. Shuffling is cool, but honestly with 4 tops I've seldom had problems finding one when I had CB out (has happened, but not enough to warrant that).

May be a really dumb idea, but against Zoo I'm thinking about Sterling Grove + Energy Field + Wheel of Sun and moon. But man is that stretching this deck to places it doesn't want to go...

More Threads of Disloyalty would help a lot though, along with possibly a maindeck propaganda.

[Anusien]

Disagree. The matchup against Zoo seems to be pretty good. There's a minimum the matchup can go when you have CB/Top and Swords to Plowshares. I think you get really good SB options too.

You don't want to try and combo off against Zoo with enchantments. You can't afford to draw the blanks. Just run CoPs, Genju of the Fields, Ghostly Prison, whatever.

[grahf]

May be a really dumb idea, but against Zoo I'm thinking about Sterling Grove + Energy Field + Wheel of Sun and moon. But man is that stretching this deck to places it doesn't want to go...

Is that better than Confinement+Arena? I do see that 2cc vs 3cc for the individual pieces could make a big difference against Zoo and the like, but Confinement/Arena are almost certainly better on their own.

Throwing a singleton Grove into the deck seems like a pretty good idea regardless, if enchantment hate is expected.

And therein lies the paradox of this deck: each cool enchantment we throw in will dilute the consistency, until you just have a pile of singletons held together by Top filtering and Zur's tutoring. I'm starting to see why Anusien wanted some Moxen in here; activating Zur on turn 5 at the earliest is just going to be too little too late sometimes. Another possibility would be Enlightened Tutor to find what you need before Zur comes down (I don't recall if that's been tried at or not).

[Phoenix Ignition]

Is that better than Confinement+Arena? I do see that 2cc vs 3cc for the individual pieces could make a big difference against Zoo and the like, but Confinement/Arena are almost certainly better on their own.

Indeed you are right. Arena is good on its own, and Confinement can at the least buy you time as soon as it hits.


Throwing a singleton Grove into the deck seems like a pretty good idea regardless, if enchantment hate is expected.
Okay, it was a dumb idea by me, I'll admit it. I don't think this belongs here. Maybe, maybe if you have it in the sideboard it would work out for you.


And therein lies the paradox of this deck: each cool enchantment we throw in will dilute the consistency, until you just have a pile of singletons held together by Top filtering and Zur's tutoring. I'm starting to see why Anusien wanted some Moxen in here; activating Zur on turn 5 at the earliest is just going to be too little too late sometimes. Another possibility would be Enlightened Tutor to find what you need before Zur comes down (I don't recall if that's been tried at or not).

You've hit the nail on the head. Enchantments are fun and are good, but the more you throw in the worse it gets for consistency. It reminds me a lot of an enchantment Survival of the Fittest deck, they can get bad fast when you try to have answers for everything. I've tested Enlightened tutor, but most of the enchantments really aren't worth searching out for in that context, and actually I would rather run Lim-Dul's Vault since it is blue, tutors, and helps out CB, or to find Zur. Force of Will already is a bit low on blue in some versions of the deck.

I really shouldn't be as pessimistic about zoo as I am there. It's a hard matchup but the thing you gotta watch out for is quick burn, and the surprise Qasali that frees their creature from whatever shackles it was in previously (threads or O-ring, or blow up propaganda). Sterling Grove would help here, but only after you get it and other enchantments out.

I'm currently retesting a deck with 3 Grunt, 4 Meddling Mage maindeck again, with 2 Steel of the Godhead. I might switch to Genju of the Plains if I get around to it, but I'm still wary of getting that plowed and going down on lands when we really need them (luckily Zoo runs PtE and replaces the land they remove).

[Anusien]

Is that better than Confinement+Arena? I do see that 2cc vs 3cc for the individual pieces could make a big difference against Zoo and the like, but Confinement/Arena are almost certainly better on their own.

Throwing a singleton Grove into the deck seems like a pretty good idea regardless, if enchantment hate is expected.

And therein lies the paradox of this deck: each cool enchantment we throw in will dilute the consistency, until you just have a pile of singletons held together by Top filtering and Zur's tutoring. I'm starting to see why Anusien wanted some Moxen in here; activating Zur on turn 5 at the earliest is just going to be too little too late sometimes. Another possibility would be Enlightened Tutor to find what you need before Zur comes down (I don't recall if that's been tried at or not).
I don't want to dilute the deck. I think building it takes a lot of discipline. You really want to work to minimize the number of awful, no good, very bad topdecks. That's why I don't want Grove and why I realized Confinement + helper cards is a bad way to go. Because you draw the wrong pieces and just lose.

[grahf]

Ah, I totally forgot about Lim-Dul's Vault. That does make more sense here than ETutor, in context.

[perm]

Has anyone considered Wild Research? I've never seen this card used but it doesn't seen bad at all.

[Phoenix Ignition]

Has anyone considered Wild Research? I've never seen this card used but it doesn't seen bad at all.

Well we don't splash red, and if we did, a bad Gamble on a stick doesn't really help much.

[Kanabo]

have you ever considered Ghostly Prison in this deck? it seems good...

[Phoenix Ignition]

have you ever considered Ghostly Prison in this deck? it seems good...

In my experience the Propaganda are better, as you can Force with them, but Ghostly Prison doesn't get red blasted. I still stick with Propagandas though since extra cards for FoW are always good, and I don't often run into REB in the matchups that I use Propaganda in (goblins generally doesn't run it , elves, merfolk, ichorid, and most other swarm decks can't).

[St3B]

Hi I really like the idea behind the deck but discarded it after testing. I would like to make it work for Madrid though...
The version I have tested was more or less like this one (maybe it was posted here in the thread during it's hype):

creature [8]
4 Dark Confidant
1 Sower of Temptation
3 Zur the Enchanter
instant [16]
4 Brainstorm
1 Counterspell
4 Force of Will
3 Spell Snare
4 Swords to Plowshares
enchantment [10]
4 Counterbalance
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Pemmin's Aura
2 Pernicious Deed
1 Steel of the Godhead
1 Threads of Disloyalty
artifact [5]
4 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Vedalken Shackles
land [21]
2 Flooded Strand
2 Island
1 Plains
4 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
3 Tropical Island
4 Tundra
4 Underground Sea
60 cards

Sideboard:
3 Meddling Mage
1 Aura of Silence
2 Chill
1 Circle of Protection: Red
1 Energy Flux
2 Engineered Plague
1 Seal of Cleansing
1 Threads of Disloyalty
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Scepter of Fugue
15 cards

Since the combo and control matchup is ok, I would like to tweak it to beat Zoo, Goblins, Merfolk and to have answers for the other matchups postboard (mainly Ichorid and Canadian thresh).

Any suggestions?

[obituary 95]

Here is a list I have been testing and having decent results with ,but it does need more testing against the likes of zoo and Canadian threshold.

3 Island
2 Swamp
1 Plains
4 Tundra
4 Marsh Flats
4 Flooded Strand
4 Scrubland

// Creatures
3 Zur the Enchanter
2 Vedalken AEthermage

// Spells
4 Counterbalance
3 Oblivion Ring
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Spell Snare
1 Energy Field
1 Wheel of Sun and Moon
3 Enlightened Tutor
4 Path to Exile
1 Hoofprints of the Stag

// Sideboard
3 Engineered Plague
1 Declaration of Naught
1 Karmic Justice
1 Warmth
3 Chill
3 Threads of Disloyalty
1 Runed Halo
2 Back to Basics

please note that I have decided not to run Steel of the Godhead or dark confidant.
reasons for godhead
1 terrible card to draw or top deck when zur is not out on the board
2 I never really wanted to get it I would rather just go get cb or start the energy field plan

the reasons aginst confidant are rather differnt its not that confidants bad but well in a meta game with zoo burn and lands .deck I don’t really want to give my opponent a free lightning bolt. And well I decided to put in the aethermage becuse the times I did not win was because I could not find zur.

ps im thinking about running luminarchs ascenshion instead of hoofprints not shure though i will need to test it

[Anusien]

The Wheel of Sun and Moon + Energy Field is really awkward if they have Qasali Pridemage or Engineered Explosives.

[obituary 95]

The Wheel of Sun and Moon + Energy Field is really awkward if they have Qasali Pridemage or Engineered Explosives.

you are right about ee and the pridemage but my field is mostly control or agro control . on another note trigon preditor can also be quite harsh aginst the deck .but the decks that seem to run the preditor md seem to already be a walk in the park . im not trying to come of as cokey or eneything but the only deck that runs the preditor md is cb top and well i usually have zur on the board by then and just get o ring .

[Phoenix Ignition]

Quick update/ Tournament report:

23ish people, 4 rounds cut to top 8.

List:


// Lands
3 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
4 Tundra
4 Underground Sea
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Marsh Flats

// Creatures
3 Zur the Enchanter
4 Dark Confidant
2 Jotun Grunt

// Spells
3 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Brainstorm
4 Counterbalance
1 Steel of the Godhead
1 Oblivion Ring
4 Force of Will
1 Pemmin's Aura
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Spell Snare
2 Wheel of Sun and Moon
2 Energy Field
1 Threads of Disloyalty
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

// Sideboard
SB: 1 Wheel of Sun and Moon
SB: 1 Energy Field
SB: 2 Engineered Plague
SB: 2 Aura of Silence
SB: 2 Path to Exile
SB: 2 Engineered Explosives
SB: 2 Llawan, Cephalid Empress
SB: 3 Meddling Mage

Round 1:
I destroy the Bye
1-0

Round 2: Lands

Game 1: I get a turn 3 or 4 Wheel to severely slow down his development, accompanied by Counterbalance. Jotun Grunt eats his yard and I send enough manlands plowing to buy time until Zur + Pemmin's Aura bashes for the win.

Side: +3 Mage +1 Wheel +2 Path -1 O ring -1 Threads -3 spell snares -1 E field

Game 2: Counterbalance Locks the game down after 1 copy gets k-gripped. I sword and path more creatures until he nearly decks himself trying to push a Life through. I'm extremely low on land due to the Wastelands and times he does get Life in there. Eventually I clog the board with Meddling Mages and Dark Confidant and he scoops with no outs and a smaller library.
2-0 (2-0)

Round 3: Rock + crucible + ravages of war
Game 1: He plays ravages of war into my flood of lands + counterbalance but I'm unable to reach 4 again to drop a bomb. He beats me to death

Side: doesn't matter, this is an awful matchup

Game 2: He gets Exploration + Wasteland + Crucible and some beaters. Brutal.
2-1

Round 4: Aggro Loam
Game 1: he gets mana screwed and I win.

Side: Probably similar to 43 lands MU

Game 2: Fun game because I nearly kill myself. Counterbalance and bob join the party while he builds his manabase. Bob flips FoW. I swing. Bob hits land and I keep locking him out of the game. Bob hits FoW again and drops me to 7, at which point a fetch and Bob hitting Jace drops me to 2. I only have 3 lands out due to early game waste-lock, but I was able to kill off bob somehow. I force something and drop down to 1, which is strange because I'm in complete control. Meddling Mage comes down on EE as he wiped CB + Mage + bob with it earlier and I have reassembled CB. Eventually MM gets Maelstrom Pulsed but CB still is on lock and I dig up another Mage to swing for victory. Bob hit me for I think 16 that game.
3-1

Top 8:

Round 5: CB/top Bant

Game 1: I mulligan. I force his CB and land my own. Eventually Zur lands and I start doing stupid things like turning him into a 3/6 lifelink flying unblockable morphling via steel + Pemmins Aura. He gets out 2 Rhox War Monks which would be scary if not for the Energy Field in their way.

Game 2: He mulligans twice and actually got a decent hand. He's able to force my top and land his own CB without a top. I have 3 Brainstorms though and can throw them out to see whats on his top deck. Eventually he lands a shiny goyf and threads takes it. He doesn't find much to get out of this situation at which point I brainstorm into a Jace and seal the win.
4-1

Top 4 Split into $22.50 each.

The new deck worked well. I hadn't played with this configuration in a tournament yet and it did well for its first test run. I never used Spell Snare, and it might be worth taking out, but I honestly just didn't draw it or need it. I think Spell Pierce would have helped against the rock variant, but honestly any deck playing blue against that one is F'ed anyway. Either way that slot is pretty open to whatever you think is worth it. I don't like Daze just because you want to hit a high amount of lands in this deck.

EDIT: Also probably -1 Wheel maindeck +1 E tutor. It's good but not that necessary to have 2

[Anusien]

Last time I played the deck, Declaration of Naught was one of the best cards in it. It's not actually symmetrical the way Meddling Mage is. Runed Halo was great to answer Factories.

I had problems anytime the opponent wanted to engage in actual creature combat. Bob can't block anything, and the Zoo and Goblins matchups can be awkward. Runed Halo can help, especially on Factories, but I think you want some actual business. Especially because it can be hard winning if the opponent doesn't scoop them up.

[Phoenix Ignition]

Last time I played the deck, Declaration of Naught was one of the best cards in it. It's not actually symmetrical the way Meddling Mage is. Runed Halo was great to answer Factories.

I had problems anytime the opponent wanted to engage in actual creature combat. Bob can't block anything, and the Zoo and Goblins matchups can be awkward. Runed Halo can help, especially on Factories, but I think you want some actual business. Especially because it can be hard winning if the opponent doesn't scoop them up.

In playtesting I got Zur extirpated once and had that "Oh shit... I have 4 bobs left" feeling. This doesn't happen often and usually dropping Zur happens when you are in control against control decks. I agree against Zoo it's more difficult. Jotun Grunt is actually really good to use to stall against them, it shrinks goyfs and eats their Lavamancer food. By the time he dies it's been a few turns and hopefully you re-stabilized. There are only 2 grunts but Threads and Energy field can slow them down quite a bit as well. If you ever get Zur with a CB/top or Pemmin's aura on it you win 99% of the time. I really like the 2 Energy Field/2 Wheel configuration to buy time against these decks and randomly win.

Runed Halo could be in the board but my board was a meta call. I just left Swords in and boarded some paths against 43 lands. It's fun to watch them try to play with Wheel out, especially if you exile all of their manlands. I don't like Declaration of Naught still just because you have to pay mana to counter the spell. This deck really seems to use its mana every turn (CB/Top helps that a lot obviously), and keeping mana open for it is just less worth it. Also most of the decks you bring in Mages against don't have a lot of creatures so the 2/2 body wins games (It did tonight).

[DukeDemonKn1ght]

Why not run Control Magic as the singleton instead of Threads? I mean, normally you're going to tutor for it with Zur anyways (or so I would imagine...)

Doesn't the ability to steal any creature outweigh the one extra mana, especially since you're not always going to be hard-casting it?

[Phoenix Ignition]

Why not run Control Magic as the singleton instead of Threads? I mean, normally you're going to tutor for it with Zur anyways (or so I would imagine...)

Doesn't the ability to steal any creature outweigh the one extra mana, especially since you're not always going to be hard-casting it?

Read Zur.

[obituary 95]

i have 2 questions
1 is jace the mindsculpter good in this deck and does it really belong here

2 with the advant of zoo should deed be put back in the deck to take care of the nactl menase

[Phoenix Ignition]

i have 2 questions
1 is jace the mindsculpter good in this deck and does it really belong here

2 with the advant of zoo should deed be put back in the deck to take care of the nactl menase

1. I believe he is a strong candidate for being the right card for this deck. I can't say he is the perfect 1-of card, but as a 1-of he fulfills his job well. Here's what I wanted in that slot.
- 4 or less casting cost bomb
- Not Zur (3 is really enough)
- A way to beat control decks when we stall each other into the late game
- A way to win if they Extirpate Zur or have some way to shut down his attack, or Humility
- A card that has a use in every situation (even if it's not the greatest at the time)
Lastly, the fear of planeswalkers is a good reason in itself. I'd pay 4 mana for a card that fateseals a library and gains you 5 life at its worst, and singlehandedly wins games at its best.

Against Lands decks Zur has an amazingly good matchup already, and an even to good matchup against Aggro Loam, but against solid blue based control decks like Landstill I think the Jace gives a little extra boost. I played him twice in that tournament and both times he won me the game. One game he took Mishra's factory beats for 10 damage instead of me, and the other game the opponent auto scooped because I had counter-top in play and the game was locked down when he hit.

2. I would use Engineered Explosives over Deeds still. Against Zoo it does very well teamed up with Swords + random Thread + O ring + any sideboard you might have. I don't like splashing 4 colors, and land destruction decks with fast clocks are the worst matchups already, there's no need to help them kill you. Another important thing is it can be cast and exploded for much less mana than Deeds, which is important when they have a Pridemage out already. It also flips for 0 with Bob, which is an added bonus.